.MEMORIAL 

V" 


OF 


NATHANIEL   HOLMES  MOKISON 

(1815-1890) 


FIRST  PROVOST  OF  THE  PEABODY  INSTITUTE 

(1867-1890) 


PRIVATELY    PRINTED 
BALTIMORE 

1892 


PBESS  OF 

ISAAC    FKIEDENWALD    CO. 
BALTIMOBE 


730 


MEMORIAL  OF  NATHANIEL  HOLMES  MORISON. 


i. 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH.* 

It  seems  but  just  that  some  tribute  should  be  paid  to 
one  whose  life  for  many  years  was  spent  in  the  faithful 
performance  of  public  duties.  A  knowledge  of  those 
moral  and  intellectual  qualities  which  have  enabled  a  man 
to  pass  from  privation  and  hardship  to  reputation  and 
honor  becomes  a  source  of  encouragement  and  of  inspi- 
ration to  those  still  bravely  struggling  to  realize  noble 
ambitions.  Character  is  at  the  root  of  all  true  success 
in  life.  He  who  evinces  intellectual  force,  unswerving 
devotion  to  his  ideals,  indomitable  perseverance  and 
uncompromising  honesty,  cannot  fail  to  wrest  from  life 
the  best  it  has  to  offer  and  to  command  the  respect  and 
admiration  of  his  fellow-men. 

It  is  the  pride  of  New  England  that  she  can  boast 
many  noble,  hardy  sons.  From  the  border  and  inland 
towns  of  Massachusetts,  from  the  granite  hills  of  New 
Hampshire,  from  each  State  have  come  forth  men  strong 

*In  preparing  this  sketch,  the  writer  has  had  recourse  to  her 
father's  autobiographical  notes  left  incomplete,  to  Smith's  History  of 
Peterborough,  The  History  of  the  Morison  Family,  and  to  Morrison's 
History  of  Windham,  N.  H. 


4  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL    HOLMES    MORISON. 

in  the  faith  that  life  was  real  and  earnest,  who,  ever 
true  to  this  conviction,  have  died  leaving  to  their  child- 
ren the  noble  heritage  of  unsullied  names  and  characters, 
honored  alike  for  their  mental  and  moral  worth.  Such 
intellectual,  physical  and  moral  vigor  as  belongs  to  all 
true  sons  of  the  North  was  inherited  in  full  measure  by 
him  to  whom  this  memorial  is  dedicated.  Eminently  a 
student,  he  yet  possessed  energy  as  well  as  executive 
ability  to  a  rare  extent.  His  guiding  star  in  life  was 
his  keen  sense  of  duty,  which  led  him  to  be  accurate 
and  thorough  in  the  details  of  any  work  he  undertook. 
The  character  and  the  value  of  the  work  he  accomplished 
marked  him  as  a  man  of  profound  scholarly  attainments 
and  of  wide  bibliographical  knowledge. 

For  those  who  knew  and  honored  him  the  following 
sketch  will  give  a  deeper  insight  into  a  life  remarkable 
for  its  determined  purpose,  and  a  fuller  understanding 
of  that  arduous  task  to  which  for  twenty-three  years  he 
was  entirely  devoted. 

Nathaniel  Holmes  Morison  was  born  in  Peterborough, 
New  Hampshire,  December  14,  1815.  He  was  the  third 
son  of  Nathaniel  and  Mary  Ann  Morison,  and  fifth  child 
of  a  family  of  eight.  Both  his  father  and  mother  were 
of  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian  descent.  All  evidence  shows 
that  the  Island  of  Lewis,  off  the  west  coast  of  Scotland, 
was  the  cradle  of  the  Morison  family,  though  its  founder 
was  probably  of  Norwegian  origin.  Tradition  says  that 
he  was  the  son  of  a  Norwegian  king.  Members  of'  the 
family  crossed  over  the  sea  into  Scotland,  whence  they 
spread  abroad  over  the  earth  into  England,  Ireland  and 
America.  It  is  probable  that  John  Morison,  who  was 


BIOGRAPHIC  A.L  SKETCH.  5 

the  ancestor  of  many  of  the  Morisons,  migrated  from 
Aberdeen  County,  Scotland,  to  Londonderry,  Ireland, 
where  he  resided  in  or  near  the  old  town.  He  and  his 
family  were  present  during  the  memorable  siege  of  Lon- 
donderry,* when  James  the  Second  fought  for  the  throne 
of  England,  and  many  were  the  hardships  they  endured 
during  that  terrible  time. 

In  1718  two  of  John's  sons,  James  and  John,  came  to 
America,  and  were  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Lon- 
donderry, New  Hampshire.  Their  father,  with  the  rest 
of  his  family,  joined  them  in  1720,  and  died,  it  was  said, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  one  hundred  and  eight  years. 
His  son  John  removed  to  Peterborough,  New  Hampshire, 
in  1750  or  1751,  and  it  was  at  the  old  farm,  bought  by  his 
great-great-grandfather,  that  Nathaniel  Holmes  Morison 
was  born.  His  maternal  ancestors  were  also  among  the 
early  settlers  of  Londonderry,  New  Hampshire.  Nathaniel 
Morison's  father  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary 
ability  and  of  much  literary  taste.  He  established  him- 

*  In  Lord  Macaulay's  "History  of  England"  the  following  inter- 
esting incident  of  the  war  is  recorded  in  regard  to  James  Morison.  At 
the  close  of  the  year  1688  great  consternation  was  created  among  the 
inhabitants  of  Londonderry  by  the  report  that  a  large  body  of  troops, 
under  the  command  of  Alexander  Macdonnell,  Earl  of  Antrim,  was  on 
the  march  from  Colraine  to  occupy  Londonderry.  The  report  proved 
true,  for  later,  from  the  city  walls,  the  citizens  could  see  the  troops 
assembling  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river  Foyle.  There  was  no 
bridge,  but  by  means  of  a  ferry  a  detachment  of  the  army  crossed  the 
stream.  The  officers  approached  the  town  and  demanded  admittance 
for  themselves  and  for  the  king's  soldiers.  At  that  moment  thirteen 
apprentices  armed  themselves,  seized  the  keys  of  the  city,  and  delibe- 
rately shut  the  portcullis  in  the  face  of  the  officers.  James  Morison, 
standing  on  the  top  of  the  walls,  endeavored  to  persuade  the  officers 
to  depart,  but  they  could  not  be  induced  to  move.  All  at  once  they 
heard  him  cry,  "Bring  a  great  gun  this  way,"  and  instantly,  at  that 
ominous  order,  they  beat  a  hasty  retreat. 


6  MEMORIAL  OF  NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

self  as  a  successful  carriage-builder  in  Fayetteville, 
North  Carolina,  two  years  before  his  marriage,  and  three 
years  afterward,  in  1807,  he  returned  North  with  what 
was  then  regarded  as  quite  a  competent  fortune.  He 
settled  in  Peterborough,  but  from  that  time  on  his  busi- 
ness enterprise  -  became  unsuccessful.  At  one  time  when 
he  was  in  Mississippi  he  entered  into  a  contract  with 
some  leading  capitalists  to  introduce  water  into  the  city 
of  Natchez.  Upon  his  return  from  the  North  with  men 
and  materials  the  capitalists  repudiated  the  contract. 
Disheartened  and  financially  ruined,  he  fell  an  easy  prey 
to  yellow  fever,  then  raging  in  that  region,  and  died  at 
Natchez,  in  1819,  at  an  early  age. 

His  wife  was  left  in  most  limited  circumstances,  with 
a  large  family  of  five  sons  and  two  daughters.  She  was 
reluctantly  obliged  to  sell  the  old  homestead  and  to  move 
into  a  small  house  near  the  village  of  Peterborough.  In 
later  years  her  son  Horace  bought  back  the  place,  and  it 
is  still  owned  by  his  family.  There  can  be  no  prettier 
spot  than  this  old  homestead,  lying  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  village,  about  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  busy 
centre  of  the  town.  Upon  the  eastern  horizon  one  sees 
the  serene  and  peaceful  outlines  of  a  range  of  wooded 
hills  known  as  the  East  Mountains.  Upon  the  west,  one 
has  but  to  climb  a  hill  back  of  the  house  to  catch 
a  view  of  the  grand  old  mountain,  Monadnock.  Lonely 
and  majestic  it  stands,  a  mountain  so  beautiful  in  form 
and  of  such  commanding  aspect  that  it  has  been  immor- 
talized in  verse  by  Emerson.  Surely,  with  such  a  type 
of  rugged  strength  and  power  ever  before  their  eyes, 
those  who  were  born  and  lived  beneath  its  shadow  must 
have  felt  its  influence  upon  minds  and  hearts. 


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BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH.  7 

"Inspirer,  prophet  evermore  ; 
Pillar  which  God  aloft  had  set, 
So  that  men  might  it  not  forget 
It  should  be  their  life's  ornament, 
And  mix  itself  with  each  event. 

Well  the  Planter  knew  how  strongly 
Works  thy  form  on  human  thought." 

Sad  indeed  must  the  young  widow's  heart  have  been 
as  she  turned  her  back  upon  this  beautiful  home  !  She 
was,  however,  a  woman  of  remarkable  character,  and  all 
its  force  was  shown  during  those  days  of  sorrow  and 
hardship.  Besides  the  house  she  bought  she  owned  a 
few  hundred  dollars  and  a  wood  lot  which  supplied  her 
fuel.  To  help  out  her  scanty  income  she  wove  cloth  for 
sale,  and  many  times  would  she  weave  and  weep  together, 
for  in  those  days  grief  could  not  command  the  luxury  of 
time  for  itself  alone.  Her  eldest  daughter  inherited  her 
ability  and  energy,  and  was  a  constant  source  of  com- 
fort to  her  busy  mother.  The  youngest  children,  twin 
boys,  who  at  the  time  of  their  father's  death  were  scarcely 
more  than  babies,  were  often  watched  and  tended  by 
their  elder  brother  Nathaniel.  Besides  taking  care  of 
his  brothers — -which  must  have  been  no  easy  task,  for  they 
were  full  of  life  and  energy — he  learned  to  do  many  use- 
ful things  at  home.  He  kept  the  shuttle  supplied  with 
quills,  set  the  table,  swept,  washed  the  dishes,  in  fact 
did  nearly  everything  except  cooking  and  washing  the 
clothes.  For  eight  years  Nathaniel  lived  at  home  with 
his  mother,  who  was  always  an  example  of  industry  and 
perseverance.  These  two  traits  of  character  he  inherited 
in  a  large  degree. 


8  MEMORIAL   OP  NATHANIEL  HOLMES  MORISON. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1824,  Mr.  Hugh  Miller,  the  first 
Selectman  of  the  town,  wanted  a  boy  for  small  chores, 
and  engaged  Nathaniel  Morison  to  remain  with  him 
until  he  was  fourteen  years  old.  Mr.  Miller  lived  in  the 
north-eastern  part  of  the  town,  so  that  the  young  boy 
was  five  miles  away  from  his  own  home.  His  mother 
was  always  most  desirous  that  her  sons  should  learn 
trades,  and  thus,  self-supporting,  should  be  prepared  in 
the  best  manner  for  the  great  struggle  in  life.  She 
looked  for  nothing  and  desired  nothing  beyond  this. 
When  she  placed  them  with  farmers  she  arranged  to 
have  them  released  in  time  to  learn  trades  before  they 
were  twenty-one.  Nathaniel  received  for  his  services 
clothing,  food  and  the  privilege  of  attending  the  school 
of  the  district.  The  poor  child,  sent  away  at  so  tender 
an  age  from  a  home  he  loved  and  a  mother  to  whom  he 
was  devoted,  suffered  greatly  from  home-sickness.  The 
family  in  which  he  lived  were  very  kind  to  him,  but  the 
house  was  large  and  remote  from  neighbors,  and  he  had 
no  companion  at  all  of  his  own  age.  He  had  very  little 
work  to  do,  and  this  lack  of  constant  occupation  only 
served  to  increase  his  home-sickness.  His  duties  were 
to  drop  corn  and  potatoes  into  the  ground  in  planting 
season  for  the  farmers  to  plant,  to  ride  the  horse,  to 
plough,  and  to  help  the  daughter  of  the  house  to  tend 
her  flower-garden. 

At  the  end  of  June,  after  three  months  of  service,  it 
was  arranged  that  he  should  be  released,  and  he  returned 
home  a  happy  and  jubilant  child.  At  this  time  his  oldest 
brother,  seven  years  his  senior,  was  living  with  a  Mrs. 
Gibbs  near  the  East  Mountain.  She  wanted  a  boy  to  run 
on  errands  and,  through  John's  influence,  she  engaged 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH.  9 

Nathaniel  to  fill  the  place.  On  this  lonely  farm  he  spent 
the  summer  and  autumn  with  his  brother  very  pleasantly, 
doing  such  light  work  as  he  was  capable  of.  He  carried 
drink  to  the  men  in  the  field,  trampled  down  hay  on  the 
carts  and  scaffold,  drove  oxen,  rode  the  horses  to  plough 
and  took  them  to  the  village  to  be  shod.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  helped  to  drive  the  cattle  to  the  top  of  East 
Mountain,  and  it  was  there  he  obtained  his  first  glimpse 
of  the  great  world  beyond.  In  December  Nathaniel 
returned  home.  The  following  spring  he  went  to  live 
with  his  great-uncle,  Nathaniel  Holmes,  for  several  years. 
This  farm  was  only  a  mile  from  his  home,  and,  as  the 
family  was  a  large  one,  he  lived  a  contented  and  happy 
life.  In  the  winter  he  went  to  school,  in  the  summer  he 
did  various  kinds  of  hard  work  on  the  farm.  During  his 
early  school-days  he  was  not  inclined  to  take  much 
interest  in  his  studies,  and  said  of  himself  in  later  life 
that  he  was  a  "  dull  boy." 

The  first  book  that  aroused  in  him  any  taste  for  read- 
ing was  Miss  Edgeworth's  Tales,  which  had  been  lent  to 
him  by  the  minister  of  the  town.  Colburn's  Mental 
Arithmetic  was  the  first  school-book  that  awoke  his 
interest  in  real  and  earnest  study.  The  problems  were 
like  riddles  to  him,  which  he  would  allow  no  one  to  assist 
him  in  mastering,  and  they  would  remain  in  his  mind 
for  hours  at  a  time,  until  the  proper  solution  was  found. 
Nathaniel  was  kindly  treated  at  his  uncle's.  The  only 
holidays,  though,  that  he  ever  had  were  muster,  training 
and  election  days.  The  zest  with  which  he  threw  him- 
self into  the  pleasures  of  these  occasions  can  readily  be 
imagined.  Although  on  these  holidays  he  never  had  a 
cent  of  money  in  his  pockets  to  spend,  he  enjoyed  the 


10  MEMORIAL   OF  NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

festivities  as  much  as  if  he  had  had  all  he  wished  at  his 
command.  His  uncle  was  considered  the  wealthiest 
farmer  in  the  town,  but  he  never  gave  Nathaniel  a  penny 
of  money,  and  all  the  boy  ever  received  was  a  large  slice 
of  election  cake  from  his  aunt  on  election-day.  The  boy 
was  gradually  developing  into  the  man,  learning  those 
lessons  of  economy,  industry  and  perseverance  which, 
in  after  life,  ensured  his  success.  His  religious  training 
was  not  neglected  during  these  years  of  hard  labor. 

As  early  as  the  year  1752  a  Presbyterian  church  had 
been  established  in  Peterborough.  Owing  to  the  deep 
impression  made  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  people 
by  the  unworthy  lives  of  two  successive  clergymen  in 
charge  of  the  parish,  the  congregation  had  abandoned 
the  Presbyterian  faith  and  become  Congregationalists. 
A  liberal  minister  was  installed,  who  gradually  led  the 
people  to  accept  the  doctrines  of  Unitarianism.  In  this 
faith  Nathaniel  was  brought  up,  and  in  summer  he  was 
accustomed  to  attend  service  at  the  quaint  old  meeting- 
house on  the  high  hill  abov-e  the  village.  He  had  to 
walk  three  miles  from  the  farm,  and  in  winter,  as  the 
cold  outside  and  inside  of  the  church  was  intense,  he  did 
not  often  go.  The  interior  of  the  building  was  old-fash- 
ioned in  style.  It  had  immense  square  pews,  the  seats 
uncushioned,  and  on  hinges  to  turn  up  during  prayer-time, 
and  the  tops  of  the  pews  were  ornamented  with  colonnades 
of  small  spindles,  about  eight  inches  long,  running 
entirely  around  them.  The  children,  during  the  long 
and  weary  prayers,  when  they  were  obliged  to  stand  up, 
would  frequently  spend  their  time  in  trying  to  loosen 
and  turn  the  spindles  around,  and  often  a  loud  squeak 
from  one  of  them  would  resound  through  the  church. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH.  11 

After  prayer  the  upturned  seats  all  over  the  house  came 
down  with  a  crash. 

Nathaniel  left  his  uncle's  home  for  good  in  1828,  because 
he  feared  a  whipping  from  his  cousin,  then  master  of  the 
farm.  One  day  he  had  been  forbidden  to  go  to  school  in 
order  that  he  might  attend  to  some  necessary  farm- work. 
The  boy  had  no  intention  of  disobeying,  although  the 
disappointment  was  a  bitter  one,  but  as  he  saw  his  school 
companions  trooping  along  the  road  on  their  way  to  the 
school-house,  the  temptation  to  join  them  became  too 
strong  and  he  accompanied  them  without  leave.  Later 
in  the  day,  dreading  his  cousin's  wrath,  he  would  not  go 
back  to  the  farm,  but  returned  to  his  mother's  house, 
and  never  could  be  persuaded  to  go  back  to  his  uncle's 
to  stay.  One  can  but  sympathize  with  this  act  of  dis- 
obedience, since  it  shows  the  earnest  desire  the  boy  had 
to  learn  something  else  beside  the  dull  routine  of  farm 
labor.  A  few  days  later  he  returned  to  his  uncle's  house, 
with  a  friend  as  a  guard,  to  obtain  his  clothes.  He 
received  from  his  aunt  all  he  had  left  except  a  nice  fur 
cap  which  he  especially  valued.  That  and  his  overcoat 
she  seemed  to  think  herself  entitled  to  keep.  In  those 
days  he  dressed  in  what  was  suitable  for  a  farmer's  boy, 
but  it  is  surprising,  considering  the  few  garments  he 
wore,  that  he  suffered  so  little  with  the  intense  cold  of 
that  northern  climate. 

The  following  winter,  after  leaving  his  uncle's,  Na- 
thaniel Morison  remained  at  home,  attending  school 
during  the  day,  and  at  other  times  helping  his  mother 
in  any  way  he  could.  He  had  grown  so  accustomed  to 
work  that  his  assistance  must  have  been  valuable  to  her 
whom  he  always  loved  so  tenderly.  In  the  spring  he 


12  MEMORIAL   OP  NATHANIEL,  HOLMES   MORISON. 

again  went  on  a  farm,  but  left  in  the  autumn.  At  four- 
teen years  of  age  he  entered  a  woollen  mill,  and  it  was 
understood  that  he  was  to  live  in  his  employer's  family 
until  he  was  twenty-one,  and  learn  the  trade  of  a  clothier. 

During  the  winters  he  continued  his  education,  but  he 
also  gained  intellectual  stimulus  from  persons  with  whom 
he  was  brought  into  contact  at  Mr.  CogwelPs  house.  At 
this  time  he  became  interested  in  poetry,  and  even  began 
to  write  verses  himself.  At  school  his  teacher  helped 
him  greatly  in  mathematics  and  grammar,  and  was  the 
first  teacher  who  had  any  perceptible  intellectual  influ- 
ence over  him.  Nathaniel's  oldest  brother  at  this  time 
was  at  Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  New  Hampshire.  He 
was  regarded  as  the  head  of  the  family.  His  words  were 
law.  Most  faithfully  and  generously  did  he  fulfill  the 
duties  imposed  upon  him.  He  was  the  author  of  all  their 
fortunes,  and  from  childhood  all  of  the  children  had 
looked  up  to  him  with  wonder  and  reverence.  They 
consulted  him  in  their  plans,  sought  his  advice  in  diffi- 
culties, and  he  was  ever  ready  to  assist  them  to  the  best 
of  his  ability.  He  was  an  earnest  student,  and  after- 
wards became  a  prominent  Unitarian  clergyman.* 

After  two  years  in  the  mill,  young  Morison  decided  that 
he  would  prefer  to  be  a  machinist,  and  in  order  to  learn 
that  trade  he  removed  to  another  part  of  the  town.  On 
Sundays  and  at  night,  after  work  was  finished,  he  used 

*In  May,  1838,  Dr.  John  H.  Morison  became  associate  pastor  of  the 
First  Congregational  Society  in  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts,  and  in 
1846  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  First  Congregational  Parish  of  Milton, 
Massachusetts.  Both  churches  were  Unitarian  in  faith.  He  was 
greatly  honored  and  beloved  by  his  parishioners,  for  whom  he  always 
retained  a  deep  interest  and  affection.  After  many  years  of  faithful 
and  distinguished  service  he  resigned  his  pastorate,  and  has  since 
been  quietly  living  in  Boston. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH.  13 

to  read  and  study.  He  arranged  a  lamp  over  his  bed,  and 
there  he  often  spent  hours  reading  history  and  a  few 
novels,  and  studying  arithmetic  and  natural  philosophy. 
He  was  able  to  obtain  a  good  supply  of  books  from  the 
factory  library  and  from  friends.  He  became  deeply 
interested  in  reading  Scott,  Moore,  and  Byron,  and  was 
especially  delighted  with  Scott  and  Moore.  Sometimes 
one  of  the  men,  a  spinner  in  the  mill,  would  show  the 
boys  and  girls  of  the  village  experiments  in  natural 
philosophy,  which  greatly  interested  them.  A  debating 
society  was  formed  which  met  in  the  school-house,  and 
occasionally  lectures  were  given  in  the  Lyceum  of  the 
town.  The  day's  labor  was  very  long,  from  half-past 
four  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  half-past  seven  at 
night,  with  only  a  half -hour  at  noon  for  dinner,  yet  his 
life,  though  laborious,  was  agreeable  and  happy.  He 
spent  three  years  learning  the  trade  of  a  machinist.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  he  found  that  his  constant  reading 
and  study  had  so  increased  his  interest  in  intellectual 
matters,  that  it  became  his  earnest  desire  to  enter  Phillips 
Exeter  Academy,  as  his  two  older  brothers  had  already 
done. 

Obtaining  the  consent  of  his  employers,  with  whom 
he  had  still  three  years  of  service,  and  receiving  much 
encouragement  from  them  and  from  other  warm  friends, 
he  entered  upon  his  academic  career.  Owing  to  his 
limited  financial  condition  it  was  no  easy  matter  for  him 
to  go  through  the  course  at  Exeter.  But  his  determina- 
tion to  obtain  an  education,  and  his  willingness  to  endure 
any  privation  rather  than  to  forego  such  an  advantage, 
opened  the  way  for  him.  He  entered  the  Academy  in 
its  second  term,  in  December,  1833,  having,  for  various 


14  MEMORIAL  OF  NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

reasons,  been  unable  to  begin  in  September,  the  first  term. 
He  was  just  eighteen  years  old,  and  was  a  tall,  fine 
looking  young  man.  With  scarcely  any  money  and  no 
prospects  of  more,  excepting  what  he  could  earn  by 
teaching,  he  was  obliged  to  practice  the  most  rigid 
economy  even  in  the  matter  of  food.  He  and  his  chum 
did  all  their  own  cooking.  They  had  almost  no  variety, 
seldom  any  meat,  mainly  rice,  oatmeal,  potatoes,  pork, 
and  bread — in  short,  the  mere  necessaries  of  life. 

It  was  a  long,  weary  struggle  for  an  education.  Only 
those  who  know  the  details  of  that  struggle  can  realize 
the  young  man's  tenacity  of  purpose.  On  Sundays  the 
monotony  of  a  poor  diet  was  relieved  by  dining  with  his 
friends,  Judge*  and  Mrs.  Jeremiah  Smith.  Once  a  week 
the  chums  received  from  the  same  Mrs.  Smith  the  gift 
of  a  pot  of  baked  beans  and  a  hot  loaf  of  brown  bread. 
These  were  the  luxuries  of  their  life.  In  all  other  respects 
young  Morison  was  strictly  economical.  On  one  occasion 
he  walked  on  the  frozen  ground  from  Peterborough  to 

*  Judge  Smith,  one  of  the  most  eminent  men  New  Hampshire  ever 
produced,  was  born  in  Peterborough  in  the  year  1759.  In  1787  he  began 
the  practice  of  law  in  his  native  town,  where  he  continued  to  reside  for 
ten  years.  His  influence  was  marked  in  raising  the  standard  of  his 
profession,  which  was  then  in  a  poor  condition  throughout  the  State. 
In  1790  he  was  sent  as  a  representative  of  New  Hampshire  to  the 
Second  Congress,  and  was  returned  three  successive  terms.  He  met  in 
Washington  many  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  time,  among 
whom  he  formed  a  life-long  friendship  with  that  remarkable  man, 
Fisher  Ames.  In  1797,  Judge  Smith  removed  to  Exeter,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  that  same  year  was  appointed  United  States  Attorney  for 
the  District  of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  made  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Superior  Court  in  New  Hampshire  in  1802,  an  office  which  he  held  for 
seven  years,  when  he  was  elected  Governor  of  New  Hampshire.  Fail- 
ing of  re-election,  he  returned  to  his  profession.  At  sixty -one  years  of 
age  he  retired  from  active  business,  having  acquired  a  considerable 
fortune  by  his  energy  and  ability. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH.  15 

Exeter,  a  distance  of  sixty  miles,  spending  only  two 
cents  the  entire  way,  and  that  expenditure  was  for  being 
ferried  across  the  Merrimack  River.  He  carried  his 
lunch  in  his  pocket,  and  stayed  at  a  friend's  house  over 
night. 

Notwithstanding  his  narrow  circumstances,  his  way 
of  living  and  his  many  privations,  his  life  at  Exeter  was 
a  very  happy  one.  His  two  brothers  before  him  had 
excellent  reputations  as  scholars  and  a  large  circle  of 
acquaintances  in  the  town  among  the  best  families. 
Some  of  Morison's  warmest  college  friendships  were 
begun  at  Exeter.  So  well  did  he  employ  his  time  at  the 
Academy,  that  in  the  year  1836,  when  he  entered  Har- 
vard College,  he  was  admitted  without  a  single  condition. 
His  struggle  for  a  maintenance  was  over,  and  though  he 
was  still  obliged  to  practice  economy,  his  life-  in  Cam- 
bridge was  easy  and  comfortable.  He  increased  his 
scanty  means  by  tutoring  boys  and,  during  the  winter 
time,  teaching  school.  He  was  on  terms  of  agreeable 
intercourse  with  his  classmates  and  joined  many  of  their 
societies  and  social  gatherings.  In  Exeter  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Golden  Branch,  and  in  college  was 
admitted  to  the  Hasty  Pudding  Club,  the  Institute  of 
1770,  the  Harvard  Union  and  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society. 

His  early  fondness  for  poetic  composition  continued 
and  he  was  chosen  to  write  the  ode  for  the  exhibition  in 
Exeter,  in  1835,  and  a  song  for  the  celebration  of  the 
fourth  of  July  by  Exeter  students  in  1836.  He  deliv- 
ered an  original  poem  in  English  in  1835,  at  an  annual 
exhibition  of  the  Academy,  and  a  Latin  poem  in  1836. 
In  college  he  gained  one  of  the  Bowdoin  prizes  for  com- 
position, and  graduated  in  1839  the  third  scholar  in  his 


16  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL    HOLMES   MORISON. 

class,*  having  one  of  the  orations  for  his  part  at  the 
commencement.  When  he  left  Cambridge  many  letters 
of  commendation  were  given  him  by  those  professors 
under  whom  he  had  studied,  testifying  to  his  scholarship 
and  ability. 

Immediately  after  graduating  he  went  to  Baltimore, 
where  he  became  one  of  the  principal  teachers  in  a 
fashionable  girls'  school.  In  May>  1841,  he  opened  a 
school  on  his  own  account.  He  had  already  begun  the 
study  of  divinity  under  Dr.  George -W.  Burnap,  an  emi- 
nent Unitarian  scholar  and  biblical  critic,  with  whom  he 
remained  until  he  had  completed  the  course  of  three  years 
in  theology.  One  day,  while  he  was  dragging  through  the 
weary  days  of  early  spring  and  summer  with  a  school  of 
only  two  pupils,  Dr.  Burnap  asked  him  if  he  intended  to 
continue  his  school  under  such  discouraging  circum- 
stances. Upon  receiving  in  reply  an  emphatic  "Yes," 
the  doctor  jumped  from  his  chair,  and  swinging  his  arms 
above  his  head,  shouted,  "  Hurrah  for  New  Hampshire  !" 
It  was  not  long  before  the  school  became  the  largest  in 
the  city,  numbering  at  one  time  a  hundred  and  forty 
pupils.  Nearly  a  thousand  young  ladies,  from  the  most 
intelligent  families  of  Baltimore,  received  their  education 
from  him,  and  some  of  the  best  private  schools  in  the 
city  have  been  taught  by  his  pupils.  He  was  a  strict 
disciplinarian,  although  always  a  kind  one,  and  his 

*In  the  class  of  1839  were  many  men  who  afterwards  became  promi- 
nent in  their  several  callings.  Among  Mr.  Morison's  classmates  were 
the  Rev.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Eliot  of  Boston,  Mr. 
Samuel  Longfellow  of  Cambridge,  Mr.  E.  L.  Rogers  and  Mr.  George 
Hawkins  Williams  of  Baltimore.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  two  of 
Mr.  Morison's  sons  married  daughters  of  two  of  his  classmates,  Mr. 
Williams  and  Mr.  Eliot. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH.  17 

intercourse  with  his  pupils  was  of  the  most  friendly 
order.  Many  of  them  became  his  warmest  friends.  He 
required  serious  study,  and  had  an  unusual  power  of 
inspiring  enthusiasm  for  work.  It  was  useless  for  a 
pupil  to  pretend  to  have  knowledge  of  a  subject  she  was 
not  familiar  with,  for  his  accurate  mind  soon  pierced 
through  all  superficiality.  His  explanations  were  very 
clear,  and  he  always  had  a  large  fund  of  illustrations  at 
his  command.  His  patience  in  endeavoring  to  make  a 
pupil  understand  any  difficult  point  was  untiring. 

In  December,  1842,  Mr.  Morison  married  Miss  Sidney 
Buchanan  Brown,  of  Baltimore,  who  belonged  to  the  same 
Scotch-Irish  race  from  which  he  was  descended.  Their 
family  became  large,  and  Mr.  Morison  spared  no  pains 
to  give  his  children  every  educational  advantage.  Some 
of  them  he  partially  instructed  himself,  using  the  even- 
ings or  early  morning  hours  for  this  purpose.  At  home 
his  life  was  regular  and  studious.  He  could  seldom  be 
induced  to  go  into  society,  preferring  the  quiet  of  his 
own  library  and  the  interest  of  his  books  to  any  outside 
excitement.  Yet  to  all  those  who  sought  him  in  his  own 
home  he  was  always  cordial  and  courteous. 

In  the  year  1843,  Mr.  Morison  published  a  little  book 
entitled  "  Three  Thousand  Questions  in  Geography," 
which  passed  through  three  editions  and  was  used  in 
the  best  Baltimore  schools.  He  also  published  a  book 
on  Punctuation  and  Solecisms.  An  enlarged  edition  of 
this  work  was  printed  in  1867,  under  the  title  "A  School 
Manual."  In  later  life  he  took  great  interest  in  collecting 
all  of  his  best  poems  and  having  them  privately  printed 
in  a  handsome  volume  as  a  souvenir  for  his  family  and 
friends. 


18  MEMORIAL   OF  NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

His  deep  affection  for  his  native  town  drew  him  back 
to  Peterborough,  and,  in  1857,  he  purchased  a  pretty 
place,  a  mile  from  the  village,  which  he  called  "  Bleak- 
house,"  from  the  constant  breezes  that  blew  around  it. 
In  this  beautiful  home  he  and  his  family  spent  their 
summer  vacations  for  thirty -three  years. 

Mr.  Morison  was  an  interested  member  of  the  Maryland 
Historical  Society  and  of  the  Archaeological  Society.  He 
was  one  of  the  board  of  governors  and  visitors  at  St. 
John's  College,  Annapolis,  from  which,  in  1871,  he 
received  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  For  many  years 
Dr.  Morison  was  a  trustee  of  the  First  Independent 
Church  of  Baltimore,  and  for  nearly  twenty-seven  years 
he  was  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school. 

In  1867  he  was  invited  by  the  trustees  to  take  charge 
of  the  Peabody  Institute  of  Baltimore,  which  was  founded 
by  George  Peabody,  of  London,  in  1857,  although  it  was 
not  formally  opened  until  after  the  Civil  War.  It  was 
long  before  Mr.  Morison  could  make  up  his  mind  to  accept 
the  position.  His  school  was  still  in  the  full  tide  of  its 
success,  and  he  was  an  ardent  lover  of  his  Work.  After 
mature  consideration  he  decided  to  accept  this  wholly 
unsolicited  charge,  and  in  April  of  that  year  he  received 
the  appointment  of  Provost  of  the  Institute.  He  began 
his  duties  in  -September  of  the  same  year.  One  of  the 
great  inducements  for  him  to  enter  upon  this  new  and 
laborious  work  was  the  opportunity  afforded  him  to  build 
up  the  library  of  the  Institute,  a  reference  library,  num- 
bering at  that  time  only  about  fifteen  thousand  miscel- 
laneous volumes.  His  deep  interest  in  books,  his  great 
knowledge  of  them  and  of  the  requirements  of  a  scholar's 
library,  eminently  fitted  him  for  the  position.  He  spared 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH.  19 

neither  labor,  time,  nor  physical  health  to  make  it  and 
the  catalogue  the  best  of  their  kind,  and  he  succeeded  so 
well  that  they  have  gained  the  highest  praise  from 
scholars  in  this  country  and  from  those  in  Europe.  The 
library  and  its  catalogue  he  desired  to  be  his  living  and 
useful  memorial. 

From  the  beginning  the  trustees  found  Mr.  Morison's 
judgment  so  clear  and  reliable  that  they  were  led  to 
repose  special  confidence  in  his  suggestions  for  the  im- 
provement of  each  department  of  the  Institute.  No  detail 
escaped  his  vigilant  supervision,  from  the  smallest  pur- 
chase to  the  selection  of  the  type  and  paper  for  tin 
catalogue.  In  the  year  1875  the  library  had  become  too 
small  for  the  large  number  of  books,  and  the  foundations 
of  a  new  one  were  laid.  To  this  work  Mr.  Morison  gave 
much  time  and  thought,  designing  all  the  interior  plans 
of  the  building  himself.  He  took  keen  pride  in  making 
the  library,  with  its  alcoves  and  shelves,  not  only  con- 
venient, but  beautiful. 

In  the  spring  of  1879  the  Trustees  of  the  Institute  gave 
Mr.  Morison  leave  of  absence  for  five  months,  that  he 
might  enjoy  a  trip  abroad  with  his  wife  and  daughter. 
He  visited  many  of  the  principal  cities  of  England,  Scot- 
land, France,  Italy  and  Germany,  taking  pains  to  go 
through  various  important  libraries.  He  was  always 
courteously  received  by  the  librarians,  with  some  of 
whom  he  had  been  in  correspondence  for  years.  They 
manifested  genuine  interest  in  initiating  him  into  their 
methods,  and  in  showing  to  one  so  appreciative  their 
most  valuable  books. 

Upon  his  return  to  Baltimore  Mr.  Morison  continued 
his  work  at  the  Institute  for  eleven  years  longer  with 


20  MEMORIAL   OP  NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

indefatigable  zeal.  Gradually  his  health  began  to 
decline,  yet  he  could  not  be  induced  to  spare  himself. 
His  earnest  desire  was  to  see  the  catalogue  finished,  and 
only  one  more  volume  was  needed  to  complete  it.  But 
he  was  not  destined  to  see  the  end  of  that  labor  upon 
which  for  so  many  years  he  had  expended  his  strength. 
After  a  sudden  and  short  illness  he  died  November  14, 
1890,  with  mind  and  heart  still  filled  with  deep  interest 
for  his  work.  His  loss  was  deeply  regretted  throughout 
the  community  in  which  he  lived  and  by  all  who  knew 
him.  So  sterling  a  character,  so  scholarly  a  mind  could 
not  fail  to  win  from  all  sincere  respect  and  reverence. 


II. 

PUBLIC  SERVICES  OF  DR.  N.  H.  MORISOK* 

BY  HERBERT  B.  ADAMS,  PH.  D. 

Upon  the  first  page  of  this  memorial  is  placed  the  title 
of  honor  by  which  Dr.  Morison  deserves  to  be  known 
and  remembered.  He  was  the  "  First  Provost  of  the 
Peabody  Institute."  The  title  was  chosen  by  the 
trustees  to  give  the  office  of  director  greater  dignity  and 
real  educational  significance.  The  term  Provost  is  still 
employed  in  England  and  Scotland  as  a  title  of  honor  for 
the  heads  of  colleges  and  of  great  public  schools.  A 
Provost  is  practically  the  same  as  a  President.  The 
universities  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  are  to  this 
day  governed  by  Provosts,  and,  at  the  time  Dr.  Morison 
was  elected  to  office,  the  title  was  perfectly  understood 
in  the  City  of  Baltimore. 

There  are  certain  features  of  Dr.  Morison's  administra- 
tion of  the  Peabody  Institute  which  deserve  special  con- 
sideration after  the  preceding  biographical  sketch.  The 
following  remarks  are  upon  the  First  Provost's  relation 

*In  the  preparation  of  this  sketch  the  writer  has  used  the  Peabody 
collection  of  documents  and  Dr.  Morison's  annual  reports,  together 
with  his  pamphlet  on  the  Management  and  Objects  of  the  Peabody 
Institute,  all  of  which  contain  valuable  materials  for  a  history  of  the 
noble  foundation  laid  in  1857  by  George  Peabody  (1795-1869),  who  lived 
in  Baltimore  from  1815  to  1836  and  here  made  his  first  $100,000.  The 
present  sketch  of  the  first  Provost  owes  much  to  the  reminiscences  and 
helpful  suggestions  of  Mr.  Eeverdy  Johnson,  for  many  years  member 
of  the  Peabody  Board  of  Trustees. 


22  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES    MORISON. 

to  the  Peabody  Library,  the  Peabody  Lectures,  the  Con- 
servatory of  Music,  the  Art  Gallery,  the  Peabody  Cata- 
logue, and  the  Peabody  Library  Building.  They  are 
followed  by  various  tributes  to  his  memory  and  a 
Bibliography  of  his  writings. 

THE  PEABODY  LIBRARY. 

Before  Dr.  Morison  was  called  to  his  newly  created 
office  in  the  Peabody  Institute,  in  1867,  there  had  been 
an  acting  librarian,  with  his  assistant,  but  no  real 
administrative  head.  Dr.  Morison  was  the  first  to  be 
placed  in  charge  of  all  the  departments,  including  the 
library,  and  he  remained  at  the  head  of  them  all  until 
the  end  of  his  life.  At  first  there  was  under  him  an 
assistant  librarian,  although  this  office  was  subsequently 
developed  into  that  of  librarian  ;  nevertheless  it  was 
always  subordinate  to  that  of  the  Provost,  who  remained 
the  recognized  librarian-in-chief .  Dr.  Morison  alone  had 
authority  in  all  library  matters,  and  he  exercised  it 
vigorously  from  first  to  last  throughout  his  entire 
administration. 

The  Peabody  Institute  was  first  proposed  in  Mr. 
Peabody's  letter  of  instructions  to  his  trustees,  February 
12,  1857.  That  letter  was  drafted  by  Hon.  John  P. 
Kennedy,*  afterwards  President  of  the  Board.  The 
original  endowment  of  the  Institute  was  $1,000,000 ; 
$250,000  were  subsequently  given  to  extend  the  building. 
The  Institute  was  chartered  in  1858.  The  west  wing 
was  begun  in  that  year  and  was  completed  in  1861,  when 
the  selection  of  books  began.  The  Institute  was  formally 

*A  fine  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Kennedy  was  paid  by  Dr. 
Morison  in  his  report  of  1871. 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  23 

inaugurated  in  1800,  when  Mr.  Kennedy's  inaugural 
address  was  read,  in  his  absence,  by  Judge  George  W. 
Dobbin. 

When  the  library  was  first  opened,  in  1800,  there  were 
about  15,000  books  in  the  entire  collection.  In  a  circular 
issued  by  the  library  committee  in  December,  1807,  it  was 
stated  that  "the  collection  of  books  upon  the  shelves, 
amounting  to  over  24,000  volumes,  though  but  a  begin- 
ning, includes  a  fair  proportion  of  selected  works  in  all 
departments  of  knowledge,  not  usually  found  in  private 
collections.  Intended  to  supply  the  wants  of  readers  in 
all  walks  and  professions,  additions  are  being  carefully 
and  as  rapidly  made  as  is  consistent  with  a  proper  regard 
for  its  healthful  growth  and  practical  use,  as  the  Library 
of  Reference  described  in  the  letter  of  its  munificent 
founder." 

In  1877,  ten  years  from  the  time  Dr.  Morison  became 
Provost,  the  library  had  increased  to  03,000  volumes. 
In  1887  there  were  over  90,000,  and  at  his  death,  in  1890, 
over  100,000.  This  remarkable  growth,  in  twenty-three 
years,  of  a  carefully  selected  library  of  standard  books, 
purchased  from  a  very  limited  income,  represents  an 
enormous  amount  of  quiet  and  conscientious  work  by 
the  painstaking  Provost  and  his  chosen  staff  of  assistants. 

In  his  report  for  1809  the  Provost  pays  a  hearty  tribute 
to  Mr.  P.  R.  Uhler,  then  assistant  librarian,  "  for  the 
accuracy,  intelligence,  and  fidelity  which  he  brought  to 
the  service  of  the  Institute,  and  for  the  great  aid  which 
his  extensive  knowledge  of  science  has  enabled  him  to 
give,  in  selecting  books  in  every  department  of  scientific 
investigation."  Dr.  Morison,  in  a  pamphlet  published  in 
1871,  on  the  Management  and  Objects  of  the  Peabody 


24  MEMORIAL  OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

Institute,  records  the  devotion  of  Mr.  Uhler  in  the  scien- 
tific department  of  the  library  and  says,  "We  have 
worked  together  in  entire  harmony,  he  in  science  and  I 
in  literature,  as  our  tastes  have  directed  us." 

Citizens  of  Baltimore  and  university  students  have 
little  conception  of  the  enormous  labor  involved  in  the 
building  up  of  a  great  library  now  numbering  over 
100,000  volumes.  As  early  as  1871  Dr.  Morison  wrote, 
in  defence  of  the  management  of  the  Institute:  "This 
task  of  selecting  books  is  not  an  unimportant  or  easy  one. 
I  have  spen,t  upon  it  four  years  of  the  severest  labor  I 
have  ever  performed.  Before  any  purchases  are  made, 
all  lists  of  books  have  to  be  submitted  to  the  Library 
Committee  for  their  examination  and  approval.  I  am 
responsible  for  the  selection  of  the  books  placed  on  these 
lists,  and  the  library  will  show  to  what  degree  of  intelli- 
gence and  faithfulness  the  committee  and  myself  have 
performed  our  duties  in  these  purchases.  I  am  not 
ashamed  of  the  work  performed,  nor  afraid  to  have  it 
examined  by  any  competent  authority." 

In  these  latter  days,  when  some  great  libraries  are 
created  by  the  indiscriminate  purchase  of  second-hand 
collections  en  masse,  the  Peabody  method  will,  by  con- 
trast, commend  itself  to  the  lovers  of  choice  literature. 
The  greatest  pains  were  taken  by  the  Provost  to  secure 
the  best  authorities  upon  every  subject  represented  in 
the  library.  He  did  not  depend  entirely  upon  his  own 
individual  judgment,  but  invited  the  friendly  coopera- 
tion of  scholars  in  various  parts  of  this  country  and  of 
Canada.  Scientific  experts  and  distinguished  men  of 
letters,  who  had  been  invited  to  lecture  in  the  Peabody 
Institute,  were  requested  to  prepare  lists  of  good  books 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  25 

in  their  special  fields  of  study.  Among  the  early  Balti- 
more advisers  who  furnished  lists  of  books  were  Messrs. 
Donaldson,  Reverdy  Johnson,  John  H.  B.  Latrobe,  Brantz 
Mayer,  and  Alexander  M.  Rogers,  a  scholarly  lawyer. 
Among  advisers  from  a  distance  were  Professors  Lov- 
ering,  Gould,  Torrey ,  and  Lowell  of  Cambridge  ;  Professor 
J.  W.  Dawson,  of  Montreal ;  Professor  G.  W.  Greene,  of 
Rhode  Island ;  Professors  Marsh  and  Silliman,  of  New 
Haven  ;  Professors  Schele  DeVere  and  F.  H.  Smith,  of 
the  University  of  Virginia  ;  Professor  John  LeConte,  of 
the  University  of  South  Carolina ;  and  Professor  E.  P. 
Evans,  of  the  University  of  Michigan.  In  the  later  his- 
tory of  the  Institute,  professors  in  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University  have  given  from  time  to  time  useful  sugges- 
tions for  the  increase  of  special  collections  of  literature, 
history,  and  natural  science. 

The  Baltimore  public  for  many  years  did  not  quite 
understand  the  true  character  of  the  Peabody  Institute. 
Some  thought  that  it  was  designed  to  be  a  kind  of  people's 
palace,  for  the  benefit  of  the  masses.  Many  demanded 
that  the  library  should  be  a  free  circulating  library,  not 
knowing  that  Mr.  Peabody  had  distinctly  enjoined  that 
it  should  be  a  reference  library,  and  that  the  books 
should  not  be  taken  from  the  building  and  put  into 
general  circulation.  Dr.  Morison  always  stood  stead- 
fastly by  the  original  conditions  of  the  Peabody  trust. 

In  his  defence  of  the  Management  and  Objects  of 
the  Peabody  Institute,  in  1871,  the  Provost  said  :  "  With- 
out examining  Mr.  Peabody's  letters  of  instruction,  the 
public  seem  to  have  decided  that  this  was  to  be  a  free, 
popular  institution,  which  the  great  masses  of  people 
could  use  at  their  pleasure,  and  without  payment  of 


2(5  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL    HOLMES   MORISON. 

money.  Now  I  say  it  deliberately,  and  after  studying 
the  question  in  its  various  bearings,  that  this  was  never 
intended  to  be  a  popular  institution  in  the  usual  accepta- 
tion of  that  word  ;  that  is,  was  never  designed,  like  our 
public  schools,  for  the  personal  use  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people.  It  is  not  a  charity  in  any  other  sense  than 
than  that  which  all  college  endowments  are  charities. 
Like  colleges,  it  cannot  draw  into  its  halls  the  great 
masses  of  the  people.  It  cannot  furnish  that  kind  of 
entertainment  which  will  attract  or  interest  them.  Its 
aim  is  higher  and  nobler  than  this,  but  not  so  popular. 
It  seeks  to  instruct,  to  aid  in  the  culture  and  development 
of  the  best  minds  in  every  social  rank.  It  excludes  none 
who  comply  with  its  conditions.  It  seeks  in  its  peculiar 
way  to  furnish  instruction  so  good  that  all  classes  shall 
desire  it,  and  so  cheap  that  none  who  have  the  requisite 
culture  to  profit  by  its  privileges  shall  be  excluded  from 
them." 

The  Provost  of  the  Institute,  from  the  beginning  of  his 
administration,  set  himself  firmly  against  the  current  of 
popular  prejudice  which  demanded  a  library  of  light  and 
ephemeral  literature,  instead  of  a  solid  collection  adapted 
for  scholarly  research,  as  the  charter  required.  Uncom- 
mon strength  of  will  was  needed  in  those  early  years, 
from  1869  to  1876,  for  Dr.  Morison  to  take  and  hold  this 
firm  position  for  the  Institute.  There  was  then  no  con- 
siderable body  of  scholars  and  scientific  workers  in  the 
city  of  Baltimore.  The  Provost  frequently  lamented  this 
fact,  but  clearly  foresaw  that  the  good  judgment  of  the 
future  would  vindicate  the  position  which  he  and  the 
Board  had  taken. 

As  early  as  1871  the  Provost  seemed  to  have  an  intui- 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  27 

tion  of  what  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  would  be 
for  Baltimore  in  coming  time.  Five  years  before  the 
University  was  opened,  he  spoke  of  this  prospective 
endowment  as  the  most  precious  gift  which  Baltimore 
or  the  State  of  Maryland  had  ever  yet  received  from  any 
individual  or  body  of  men.  But  in  those  early  years 
there  was  no  institution  of  the  higher  learning  in  Balti- 
more. Her  sons  were  compelled  to  go  abroad  or  to  other 
cities  for  their  university  education.  There  was  then 
no  gallery  or  museum  of  art  in  this  city,  no  academy  of 
music,  no  good  museum  of  natural  history,  no  great 
laboratories,  no  scientific  collections.  Peabody  lecturers 
in  natural  science  often  had  to  import  their  specimens 
or  apparatus  from  Washington  or  Philadelphia.  Exist- 
ing institutions  such  as  the  Maryland  Academy  of 
Sciences,  the  Mar3rland  Historical  Society,  and  the 
Mechanics'  Institute  were  all  languishing  from  lack  of 
funds  and  proper  support.  During  the  long  period  fol- 
lowing the  Civil  War,  and  preceding  the  opening  of  a 
great  university  in  Baltimore,  in  1876,  the  Peabody  Insti- 
tute stood  virtually  alone  in  upholding  the  standards  of 
pure  scholarship,  of  pure  literature,  and  of  pure  science. 
In  his  report  for  1876,  Dr.  Morison  said  :  "1  think  it 
must  be  acknowledged  by  all  thinking  men  who  will 
investigate  the  subject,  that  the  library  is  the  great 
central  department  of  the  Institute,  around  which  the 
other  departments  are  clustered,  '  as  auxiliary  to  the 
improvement  of  the  taste,  and,  through  it,  the  moral  ele- 
vation of  the  society  of  Baltimore.'  In  the  letter  of  Mr. 
Peabody,  it  is  the  department  first  and  most  elaborately 
described  ;  it  is  the  department  which  he  directs,  without 
the  qualification  regarding  the  expense  which  he  em- 


28  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

ploys  in  speaking  of  each  of  the  other  departments,  to 
be  provided  with  '  an  extensive  library,  to  be  well  fur- 
nished in  every  department  of  knowledge,'  with  '  the 
most  approved  literature,'  and  with  *  the  best  works  on 
every  subject  embraced  within  its  plan';  and  it  is  the 
only  department  which  is  entirely  free  to  the  public." 

In  this  same  report  for  J876,  Dr.  Morison  said  to  the 
Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Institute  :  "It  is  proper  to  say 
that  our  library  will  be  tested  as  never  before  by  the 
body  of  learned  men,  and  of  students  under  their  direc- 
tion, which  will  be  called  to  this  city  by  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University.  I  feel  that  we 
ought  to  meet  their  wants  in  the  purchase  of  books,  so 
far  as  it  can  be  done  without  injury  to  a  library  which 
is  not  a  technical  one,  but  founded  for  the  use  of  the 
general  public.  In  their  researches,  every  facility  should 
be  granted  to  them  which  is  consistent  with  the  security 
of  the  books,  and  their  proper  order  and  arrangement." 

"THE  NATION"  ON  THE  PEABODY  LIBRARY. 

In  an  article,  by  the  present  writer,  on  "  Libraries  in 
Baltimore,"  published  in  The  Nation,  February  9,  1882, 
and  reprinted  in  the  University  Circulars,  March,  1882, 
appeared  the  following  paragraphs  upon  the  Peabody 
Library.  They  are  here  republished,  because  they  give 
at  once  Mr.  Peabody's  original  ideas  regarding  his  Insti- 
tute, and  an  account  of  their  practical  realization  by  his 
trustees  and  by  Dr.  Morison.  These  remarks  were  very 
gratifying  to  the  Provost.  He  said  they  were  the  first 
public  recognition  of  his  work  which  he  had  ever  re- 
ceived. They  have  led  to  the  present  memorial  of  his 
public  services. 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  20 

"  In  a  letter  to  the  original  Board  of  Peabody  Trustees, 
the  founder  of  the  Institute  provided  for  '  an  extensive 
library,  to  be  well  furnished  in  every  department  of 
knowledge — to  be  maintained  for  the  free  use  of  all  per- 
sons who  may  desire  to  consult  it — to  satisfy  the  re- 
searches of  students  who  may  be  engaged  in  the  pursuit 
of  knowledge  not  ordinarily  attainable  in  the  private 
libraries'  of  the  country.'  He  distinctly  recommended 
'  that  it  shall  not  be  constructed  upon  the  plan  of  a  cir- 
culating library,  and  that  the  books  shall  not  be  allowed 
to  be  taken  out  of  the  building,  except  in  very  special 
cases,  and  in  accordance  with  rules  adapted  to  them  as 
exceptional  privileges.'  Evidently  Mr.  Peabody 's  idea 
was  to  establish  a  library  for  scholarly  research,  some- 
thing like  the  British  Museum.  Other  provisions  for  his 
Institute  show  that  he  was  aiming  to  engraft  upon  Bal- 
timore the  offshoots  of  the  highest  culture  attainable  in 
the  great  capitals  of  Europe.  He  instituted  '  lectures  by 
the  most  capable  and  accomplished  scholars  and  men  of 
science.'  He  planned  for  a  Conservatory  of  Music,  a 
Gallery  of  Art,  and  an  annual  exhibition  of  paintings. 
He  established  a  system  of  prizes,  not  for  common 
schools,  but  for  high  schools.  He  aimed  at  the  higher 
education,  and  meant  to  elevate  the  masses,  not  by  de- 
scending to  their  standards  but  by  raising  theirs  to  his. 
And  the  far-sighted  wisdom  of  the  Peabody  foundation 
is  now  evident  in  many  ways,  in  a  growing  interest  in 
libraries  and  good  books,  in  the  development  of  the 
'  high  school '  idea  into  a  university,  in  a  wonderful 
popular  interest  in  scientific  lectures,  in  classical  music, 
and  art  in  general.  Nothing  proves  so  well  the  power 
of  high  ideas  as  their  influence  in  creating  a  demand  for 


30  MEMORIAL  OF  NATHANIEL  HOLMES   MORISON. 

higher  things.  The  Peabody  Institute  and  the  Johns 
Hopkins  University  make  their  influence  felt  in  the 
mechanic's  workshop  as  well  as  in  schools  and  libraries. 
"  It  is  impossible  in  a  few  words  to  give  any  adequate 
conception  of  the  present  resources  and  growing  wealth 
of  the  Peabody  Library.  That  collection  for  scholarly 
research  was  begun  in  1861,  and  now  [1882]  embraces 
73,000  volumes  [in  1892,  over  100,000]  of  a  strictly  scien- 
tific character.  Popular  works,  ephemeral  literature, 
and  '  the  latest  novel '  have  been  rigorously  excluded. 
The  Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Institute,  who  are  among 
the  most  respected,  influential,  and  cultivated  men  in 
Baltimore,  have  held  firmly  to  the  Peabody  idea  of  secur- 
ing the  highest  and  the  best.  '  Quietly,  without  pause, 
without  parade,  amid  much  ignorant  cavilling  and 
vituperation,  they  have  pursued  their  work  of  collecting 
a  library  which  should  furnish  to  the  student  the  best 
books  in  all  languages  and  all  departments  of  human 
knowledge.'*  The  collection  was  begun  through  the  aid 
of  specialists  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  who 
recommended  books,  many  of  which  were  purchased  by 
European  agents.  Professors  at  Harvard,  Yale,  Brown, 
Virginia,  and  Michigan  Universities,  lecturers  at  the 
Peabody  Institute,  scientific  men  in  Washington,  special- 
ists and  gentlemen  of  culture  in  Baltimore,  have  all  co- 
operated with  the  Provost  of  the  Peabody  Institute  in 
his  laborious  and  responsible  work  of  choosing  a  library 
for  scholars.  At  first  there  was  naturally  little  demand 
for  the  original  sources  of  knowledge,  works  of  science 
in  foreign  languages,  the  collections  of  learned  societies, 

*From  Dr.  Morison's  defence  of  the  Management  and  Objects  of  the 
Peabody  Institute,  in  1871. 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  31 

and  the  proceedings  of  the  great  academies  of  Europe. 
'  We  cannot  create  scholars  or  readers  to  use  our  library,' 
said  the  Provost  in  an  address  to  the  public  in  1871,  '  but 
we  can  make  a  collection  of  books  which  all  scholars  will 
appreciate  when  they  shall  appear  among  us,  as  they 
surely  will  someday.'  That  day  has  come.  Already  in 
1871  the  idea  of  founding  a  great  university  was  in  the 
mind  of  Johns  Hopkins,  and  already  he  had  chosen  upon 
his  board  of  trustees  several  of  the  managers  of  the 
Peabody  trust.  The  two  institutions  now  supplement 
one  another.  A  learned  foundation  is  slowly  building, 
with  a  library  of  research  for  its  corner-stone." 

THE  PEABODY  LECTURES. 

The  Peabody  Institute,  under  Dr.  Morison's  excellent 
management,  represented  a  high  educational  ideal.  Lec- 
tures were  given  at  the  Institute  as  early  as  1866,  but  the 
system  of  public  instruction  by  eminent  specialists  and 
distinguished  scholars  was  elaborated  by  Reverdy  John- 
son, of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  was  steadfastly  main- 
tained by  the  Provost  of  the  Institute.  It  was  never 
intended  that  the  lectures  should  be  popular  and  enter- 
taining in  a  vulgar  and  Philistine  sense.  They  were 
meant  rather  to  be  instructive  and  educational.  In  sus- 
taining this  high  intellectual  ideal  Dr.  Morison  was 
always  most  resolute  and  efficient.  He  spent  much  of 
his  time,  especially  in  summer  vacations,  in  correspond- 
ence and  inquiries  regarding  good  lecturers,  who  had 
true  scientific  or  literary  merit,  some  special  knowledge 
worth  communicating  to  the  Baltimore  public.  He  did 
not  seek  out  glib-tongued  itinerants,  either  male  or 
female,  with  no  reputation  except  as  platform-talkers 


32  MEMORIAL  OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

and  as  exhibitors  of  miscellaneous  views  by  means  of  a 
stereopticon.  He  always  took  pains  to  secure  accurate 
information  concerning  the  qualifications  of  every  lec- 
turer and  the  exact  character  of  his  proposed  course. 
The  experience  of  the  man  in  other  cities  and  other 
institutions  was  investigated.  Not  infrequently  Dr. 
Morison  sought  the  advice  and  cooperation  of  personal 
friends  at  a  distance,  who  were  perhaps  in  position  to 
hear  the  candidate  and  pass  judgment  upon  him,  after 
the  manner  of  a  church  committee  when  seeking  a  new 
minister.  After  such  careful  inquiries  as  these,  Dr. 
Morison,  possessing  full  and  accurate  information  upon 
every  lecturer  whom  he  had  in  mind,  would  present  his 
recommendations  to  Mr.  Johnson,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  lectures,  and  after  conference  with  him  and 
the  committee,  their  joint  propositions  were  usually 
ratified  by  the  full  Board  of  Trustees. 

Sometimes  Dr.  Morison  was  authorized  by  the  trustees 
to  cooperate  with  the  Lowell  Institute  in  Boston  in 
obtaining  the  services  of  some  distinguished  lecturer 
from  abroad.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  these  two  Institutes 
are  to-day  the  best  developed  types  of  the  American 
lyceum  for  the  higher  education  of  the  people.  Together 
they  have  done  more  than  any  other  two  institutions  in 
this  country  for  the  support  and  promotion  of  a  high 
class  of  public  instruction  by  means  of  lectures.  They 
have  always  favored  continuous  courses  instead  of  single 
lectures.  While  both  institutions  have  maintained  a 
high  educational  standard,  the  business  management  of 
the  Peabody  lectures  has  always  been  much  superior  to 
that  of  the  Lowell  Institute.  This  fact  is  due  to  the 
sound  policy  of  Mr.  Peabody,  who,  in  all  his  public 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  33 

philanthropy,  insisted  upon  some  cooperation  on  the 
part  of  the  people  whom  he  desired  to  benefit.  Accord- 
ingly, as  a  condition  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  Peabody 
lectures,  a  small  fee  of  $1.50  has  always  been  charged 
for  a  winter's  course  of  thirty  lectures.  Thus  the  rate 
for  a  single  lecture  is  only  five  cents  to  one  subscribing 
for  the  full  course.  Twenty-five  cents  is,  however,  the 
cost  of  a  ticket  for  one  night.  These  modest  charges, 
which  cover  but  a  small  part  of  the  expense  involved, 
make  a  great  difference  in  the  popular  appreciation  in 
Baltimore  of  the  Peabody  lectures  as  compared  with  those 
of  the  Lowell  Institute  in  Boston,  where  the  courses  are 
free.  Young  people  in  Baltimore  and  the  fathers  of 
families  feel  that  they  have  invested  something  in  the 
Peabody  course,  and  usually  make  good  use  of  their 
tickets.  In  Boston,  it  is  said,  the  opportunity  to  hear 
good  lectures  is  not  so  highly  valued  because  the  tickets 
can  be  had  for  the  asking.  Dr.  Morison  once  said  :  "  I 
was  told  by  the  manager  of  the  Lowell  lectures  that  the 
audience  which  listens  to  them  seldom  exceeds,  on  any 
one  evening,  a  third  of  the  tickets  issued." 

In  his  annual  report  for  1879  Dr.  Morison  gives  the  fol- 
lowing valuable  historical  review  of  the  lecture  system  of 
the  Peabody  Institute  up  to  that  time.  His  sketch  is  here 
reproduced  because  of  its  permanent  historical  interest, 
as  affording  a  rapid  survey  of  the  public  educational 
work  of  the  Peabody  Institute  from  1866  to  1879  :  "It 
may  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  review  what  has  been 
done  in  this  department  during  the  past  thirteen  years. 
The  first  lecture  in  the  general  course  was  delivered  by 
Professor  Joseph  Henry,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
on  the  20th  of  November,  1866  ;  and  not  less  than  thirty 


:J4  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

lectures  in  that  course  have  been  given  every  winter 
since.  Ninety-three  lecturers  have  been  employed  in 
this  work  ;  and  among  them  will  be  found  the  names  of 
many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  science,  litera- 
ture, and  art  which  the  country  has  produced.  Four 
hundred  and  one  lectures,  embracing  a  great  variety  of 
subjects,  have  been  delivered — all  of  them  instructive, 
and  all  tending  to  educate  and  improve  the  usually  large 
audiences  that  have  listened  to  them.  The  lecturers 
have  represented  all  sections  of  the  country  and  many 
shades  of  thought.  The  latest  discoveries  in  science 
have  been  illustrated  and  presented  in  a  form  so  popular 
that  no  person  of  ordinary  intelligence  could  fail  to 
derive  profitable  instruction  from  listening.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  estimate  the  amount  of  good  conferred  on  the 
people  of  this  city  by  courses  of  lectures  so  varied  and 
so  instructive — lectures  given  by  picked  men,  many  of 
them  of  great  originality  of  thought  and  of  the  highest 
culture  in  their  own  departments  of  knowledge.  That 
they  have  contributed  to  the  intellectual  advancement 
of  this  community,  that  they  have  helped  to  widen  its 
views,  have  given  it  new  subjects  of  thought  and  new 
impulses  to  self-culture,  and  have  made  it  more  kindly 
disposed  to  the  reception  of  new  ideas,  there  can  be  little 
doubt,  I  think,  in  any  mind  that  has  thoughtfully 
watched  the  intellectual  growth  of  our  city  during  these 
thirteen  years." 

Among  the  lecturers  who  have  given  public  instruction 
at  the  Peabody  Institute  during  a  period  of  twenty-five 
years  are  Professors  Joseph  Henry  and  S.  P.  Langley,  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution  ;  Professors  Mendenhall  and 
Soley,  of  Washington ;  Professor  John  W.  Draper,  of  the 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  35 

University  of  New  York  ;  Professors  Corson  and  Tyler, 
of  Cornell  University  ;  Professors  Alexander,  Young, 
and  Guyot,  of  Princeton  ;  Professors  Cook,  Lovering, 
Torrey,  Lowell,  Peirce,  Pumpelly,  Goodale,  Norton,  and 
John  Fiske,  of  Harvard  University  ;  Professors  Ware, 
Niles,  Monroe,  Kneeland,  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology  ;  Professors  Silliman,  Barker,  Lounsbury, 
Whitney,  and  Weir,  of  Yale  University  ;  President  Cop- 
pee,  of  Lehigh  University ;  Professors  Cabell,  Smith, 
Schele  de  Vere,  McGuffy,  Holmes,  and  Mallet,  of  the 
University  of  Virginia ;  Professors  Gildersleeve,  Remsen, 
Martin,  Hastings,  Adams,  Brooks,  Hall,  Elliott,  Ely, 
Williams,  and  Hartwell,  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity ;*  Messrs.  Morris,  Christopher  Johnston,  Donaldson, 
B.  H.  Latrobe,  A.  T.  Bledsoe  (editor  of  the  Southern 
Review],  E.  G.  Daves,  F.  T.  Miles,  J.  J.  Chisolm,  L. 
McLane  Tiffany,  Henry  E.  Shepherd,  Philip  R.  Uhler, 
and  William  Kirkus,  of  Baltimore ;  H.  H.  Furness,  of 
Philadelphia ;  Edward  Fontaine,  of  New  Orleans  ;  Bay- 
ard Taylor,  George  William  Curtis,  Clarence  Cook, 
William  H.  Goodyear,  Locke  Richardson,  Felix  Adler, 
Russell  Sturgis,  W.  C.  Brownell,  of  New  York  City  ; 
James  T.  Fields,  John  Weisse,  Henry  G.  Spaulding,  Fred- 
erick Ober,  R.  R.  Raymond,  Henry  A.  Klapp,  W.  E. 
Griffis,  Samuel  Eliot,  F.  H.  Underwood,  B.  W.  Putnam, 
G.  M.  Towle,  E.  E.  Hale,  B.  J.  Jeffries,  Alexander  Young, 
Thomas  Davidson,  Dr.  Minot,  of  Boston ;  William  Everett, 
of  Quincy  ;  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  of  Concord  ;  Donald 
G.  Mitchell,  of  New  Haven  ;  Principal  Dawson,  of  McGill 

*  It  was  Dr.  Morison's  custom  to  invite  each  year  some  representa- 
tive of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  to  take  part  in  the  Peabody 
Lecture  course. 


36  MEMORIAL  OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

College,  Montreal ;  John  Tyndall,  Alfred  R.  Wallace, 
B.  W.  Hawkins,  John  T.  Wood,  of  London  ;  Professor 
Edward  A.  Freeman,  of  Oxford  ;  Richard  G.  Moulton,  of 
Cambridge ;  F.  G.  Lemercier,  of  Paris.  The  only  woman 
who  ever  lectured  before  the  Peabody  Institute  was  Miss 
Amelia  B.  Edwards,  the  Egyptologist. 

In  his  report  for  1879  Dr.  Morison  gives  a  list  of  the 
principal  lecturers  and  subjects  up  to  that  date.  The 
above  select  list  is  a  rapid  summary  down  to  the  present 
time.  The  grouping  of  lecturers  by  institutions  and 
cities  illustrates  the  fact  that  the  Peabody  Institute,  for 
a  period  of  twenty-five  years,  has  been  an  important 
centre  of  educational  influence,  not  only  through  lyceum 
lecturers,  but  also  through  university  men  from  some  of 
the  leading  institutions  of  America.  University  Exten- 
sion has  been  practically  realized  in  the  City  of  Balti- 
more upon  the  largest  scale.  It  was  the  idea  of  John  P. 
Kennedy,  the  first  President  of  the  Peabody  Institute, 
that  it  should  be  a  People's  University  for  the  higher 
education  of  adult  classes.*  The  educational  idea  of  Mr. 
Peabody,  as  defined  by  Mr.  Kennedy  in  the  original 
letter  to  the  trustees,  February  12,  1857,  was  as  follows  : 
"  Instructions  in  science,  art,  and  literature  by  the  most 
capable  and  accomplished  scholars  and  men  of  science 
within  the  power  of  the  trustees  to  procure." 

Many  of  the  Peabody  lectures  are  given  in  groups,  or 

*John  P.  Kennedy's  address  at  the  opening  of  the  Peabody  Insti- 
tute, pp.  106,  122:  "We  should,  perhaps,  best  designate  this  scheme 
according  to  its  true  character  if  we  call  it  a  design  to  establish  a 
University  adapted  to  the  conditions  indispensable  to  the  cultivation 
of  a  taste  for  science  and  letters  in  the  adult  population  of  a  large 
city."  This  was  a  very  remarkable  anticipation  of  the  modern  Eng- 
lish idea  of  higher  education  for  adults  by  means  of  University 
Extension,  or  local  lectures  by  university  men. 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  37 

in  continuous,  progressive  courses  upon  kindred  subjects. 
The  Peabody  has  always  represented  ideas  of  unity  and 
continuity  in  its  educational  work,  instead  of  the  single 
lecture  system,  so  characteristic  of  the  degenerate 
modern  lyceum.  Mr.  Kennedy  was  particularly  stren- 
uous in  urging  courses  of  lectures  from  six  to  twelve 
in  number.*  Peabody  lectures  have  been  frequently 
accompanied  by  experiments,  demonstrations,  maps, 
diagrams,  and  stereopticon  illustrations.  Bibliographies 
have  been  printed  to  promote  the  use  of  the  library  in 
courses  of  instruction.  Dr.  Morison's  untiring  devotion 
to  the  educational  interests  of  the  Institute  is  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that  he  not  only  introduced  all  the  lecturers, 
but  attended  every  course  from  beginning  to  end. 

Dr.  Morison's  ideas  regarding  the  proper  functions  of 
the  public  lecture  system  of  the  Peabody  Institute  may 
be  seen  in  the  following  extracts  from  his  report  of  1871 : 
"  The  information  conveyed  in  any  course  of  popular  lec- 
tures, to  a  person  who  was  before  wholly  unacquainted 
with  the  subject,  must  necessarily  be  small.  I  conceive 
that  the  true  objects  to  be  kept  steadily  in  view  by 
those  who  direct  such  courses  of  lectures  should  be  these 
three :  J .  To  give  the  latest  and  most  important  results 
of  scientific  investigation  in  every  field  of  knowledge  ; 
2.  To  present  such  illustrations  by  experiments,  dia- 
grams, or  lantern  projections  as  persons  generally  have 
not  the  means  of  procuring  or  the  skill  to  use  ;  and  3.  To 
arouse  the  attention  or  excite  the  curiosity  of  the  hearer 
to  such  a  degree  that  he  shall  be  induced  to  seek  further 
and  more  exact  information  on  the  subject  by  reading 

*  See  address  of  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  February  12, 
1870,  pp.  16,  17. 


38  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

or  study.  A  few  lectures  on  a  subject,  giving  graphic 
descriptions  and  grand  results,  will,  in  most  cases,  be 
more  effectual  in  attaining  these  ends  than  the  introduc- 
tion of  minute  and  wearying  details." 

CLASS  LECTURES. 

In  his  first  annual  report  Dr.  Morison  suggested  the 
idea  of  a  hall  in  the  form  of  an  amphitheatre  with  raised 
seats  for  experimental  lectures  in  natural  science.  This 
was  the  first  suggestion  of  a  most  important  educational 
work  under  the  auspices  of  the  Peabody  Institute, 
namely,  the  system  of  class  lectures.  In  1869  Dr.  Mori- 
son,  in  his  recommendations  to  the  trustees,  again  urged 
the  fitting  up  of  a  small  hall  beneath  the  large  audi- 
torium. He  desired  to  have  a  room  seating  from  400  to 
500  persons,  and  especially  adapted  for  philosophical  and 
chemical  experiments. 

The  system  of  class  lectures  at  the  Peabody  Institute 
began  in  the  winter  of  1870-71,  in  a  course  of  forty  lec- 
tures on  English  literature  by  Professor  Richard  Malcolm 
Johnston,  the  distinguished  novelist  of  Baltimore.  The 
lectures  were  given  on  Friday  and  Saturday  afternoons 
at  4  o'clock,  to  an  audience  of  over  seventy  persons,  most 
of  whom  were  ladies.  The  course  was  pronounced 
"  eminently  successful  "  by  Dr.  Morison  in  his  report  for 
1871.  He  adds,  "  The  class  was  evidently  interested  in 
the  subject,  in  the  agreeable  manner  of  the  lecturer,  and 
in  his  happy  descriptions  of  the  lives  and  characters,  the 
excellencies  and  defects,  of  the  great  English  authors." 
Some  of  these  Peabody  class  lectures  by  Colonel  Johnston 
have  lately  been  printed  under  the  title  of  "  Studies, 
Literary  and  Social"  (1891). 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  39 

The  following  description  by  the  Provost,  of  Colonel 
Johnston's  method  of  conducting  the  course,  will  remind 
the  reader  of  some  features  of  University  Extension  work 
in  these  latter  days  :  "  In  the  conduct  of  these  lectures, 
the  following  plan  was  adopted.  A  syllabus  was  printed, 
which  gave  the  student  a  knowledge  of  what  authors 
were  to  be  discussed  at  each  lecture  during  the  entire 
course.  The  class  was  requested  to  prepare  for  the  lec- 
ture by  reading  in  Craik's  or  Shaw's  History  of  English 
Literature  an  account  of  the  authors  who  were  to  be 
reviewed  at  the  next  lecture.  The  lecturer  then  gave  a 
sketch  of  the  lives  and  times  of  these  authors,  with  criti- 
cisms on  their  works,  and  such  readings  from  them  as 
would  best  illustrate  the  writer's  style  and  mode  of 
thought.  As  our  library  now  contains  the  works  of 
nearly  all  important  English  authors,  these  illustrations 
were  easily  obtained. 

"  Professor  Johnston  confined  his  lectures  and  readings 
almost  exclusively  to  the  great  poets  of  the  language. 
It  is  proposed,  during  the  coming  season,  to  continue  this 
subject  by  giving  twenty  lectures,  one  in  each  week,  on 
the  great  English  essayists  and  prose-writers  ;  and,  par- 
allel with  this  English  course,  but  on  another  day  in  the 
same  week,  to  give  a  course  of  ten  lectures  on  French 
literature,  to  be  followed  by  a  similar  course  of  ten  lec- 
tures on  German  literature,  making  forty  lectures  in  all, 
or  the  same  number  that  was  delivered  this  year.  From 
the  great  satisfaction  expressed  by  those  who  attended 
these  lectures  during  the  past  season,  I  anticipate  a  large 
class  for  next  year." 

During  the  same  winter  season  of  1870-71  a  course  of 
forty  class  lectures  on  Physics  was  given  by  Dr.  J.  R. 


40  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

Uhler,  of  Baltimore,  brother  of  the  librarian.  The  lectures 
were  given  in  the  evening,  with  the  intention  of  accom- 
modating young  men  engaged  in  active  business,  as  well 
as  the  higher  classes  in  public  schools  where  physical 
experiments  were  seldom  performed.  A  fee  of  $5  was 
charged  for  the  scientific  course,  as  in  the  case  of  Colonel 
Johnston's  course  on  literature.  In  his  report  Dr.  Morison 
said  :  "  Very  few  of  the  class  we  aimed  to  reach  attended, 
while  nearly  all  women  were  cut  off,  from  the  inconve- 
nience of  attending  at  night."  The  usual  hour  for  all 
class  lectures  at  the  Peabody  was  consequently  fixed  at 
4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  examples  of  the  univer- 
sity lectures  at  Cambridge,  those  at  the  South  Kensington 
Museum,  and  those  at  the  Royal  Institution  in  London, 
were  quoted  by  Dr.  Morison  as  precedents  for  day-lectures. 
A  syllabus  was  printed  for  the  class  in  physics,  giving 
an  outline  of  the  course  of  instruction.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing fact  that  written  examinations  were  set  on  this  course 
and  certificates  were  awarded.  Thus  at  least  three  fea- 
tures of  modern  University  Extension  work  were  antic- 
ipated in  Baltimore  as  early  as  1870. 

In  the  season  of  1871-72,  ninety  class  lectures  were 
delivered  at  the  Peabody  Institute  :  twenty  on  Physi- 
ology, by  Professor  F.  T.  Miles,  M.  D.,  of  the  University 
of  Maryland ;  twenty  on  English  and  American  writers 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  by  Colonel  R.  M.  Johnston, 
of  Baltimore  ;  twenty  on  Sound  and  Heat,  by  Professor 
H.  C.  White,  of  St.  John's  College  ;  ten  on  Elocution  and 
Reading,  by  Rev.  Dr.  J.  G.  Morris,  of  Baltimore  ;  ten  on 
French  Literature,  by  M.  Leonce  Rabillon,  of  Baltimore  ; 
and  ten  on  German  Literature,  by  C.  Bohn  Slingluff,  of 
Baltimore.  The  courses  on  literature  and  language  were 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  41 

> 

especially  successful.  Tickets  for  the  entire  course  of 
forty  lectures  were  sold  at  $5  ;  for  twenty  lectures  at  $3  ; 
and  for  ten  lectures  at  $1.50. 

Class  lectures  in  the  French  and  German  languages 
were  early  and  strongly  favored  by  Dr.  Morison.  "  It  is 
so  manifest  a  benefit  to  the  student  to  have  one  place  in 
the  city  where  he  can  hear  a  foreign  language  spoken  in 
its  purity,  and  can  gradually  accustom  his  ear  to  its 
sounds,  that  I  think  we  should  not  be  discouraged  if  the 
public  do  not  at  once  appreciate  the  advantages  we  offer 
them.  It  is  a  field  which  no  one  else  will  occupy  if  we 
give  it  up,  and  the  cost  is  trifling  compared  with  the 
benefit  we  may  confer.  When  we  remember  that  many 
college  classes  do  not  number  more  than  twenty,  often 
less  than  ten,  a  class  of  twenty,  for  the  first  year,  in  a 
foreign  language  until  recently  not  much  cultivated  here, 
should  not  depress  or  discourage  us.  As  such  lectures 
belong  to  that  higher  culture  for  which  our  city  furnishes 
so  few  advantages,  and  as  they  are  entirely  coincident 
with  the  objects  of  the  Institute,  I  think  they  should 
be  continued  until  they  become  a  success,  as  they  must 
do  in  the  end  "  (Report  of  1873). 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  PEABODY  LECTURES. 
Concerning  the  beneficial  influence  of  the  Peabody 
lectures  upon  the  people  of  Baltimore,  and  the  relation  of 
the  lectures  to  the  use  of  the  library,  Dr.  Morison  said  in 
his  report  of  1874:  "I  believe  that  the  lectures  at  the 
Institute  are  contributing  largely  to  the  intellectual  im- 
provement of  the  people  of  Baltimore.  Since  their  estab- 
lishment a  great  change  has  taken  place  here  in  regard 
to  the  lectures.  Many  more  courses  of  lectures  are  sup- 


42  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

ported  than  formerly,  and  yet  the  audiences  attending 
them  are  larger.  The  taste  for  this  kind  of  instruction 
has  gradually  increased  ;  and  I  believe  that  the  Peabody 
Institute,  more  than  any  other  influence,  has  contributed 
to  this  result.  It  is  not  so  much  the  amount  of  instruc- 
tion given  at  the  lectures  which  is  to  be  considered, 
though  that  is  by  no  means  to  be  overlooked,  as  it  is  that 
they,  in  an  easy  and  agreeable  manner,  make  the  busy, 
active  minds  of  men  absorbed  in  other  pursuits  familiar 
with  the  great  problems  which  are  engrossing  the  best 
intellects  of  the  world,  make  known  the  attempted  solu- 
tion of  these  problems,  and  stimulate  to  further  and  more 
exact  inquiry.  Few  lectures  on  any  subject  are  given  in 
the  hall  which  do  not  call  into  immediate  use  a  large 
number  of  books  relating  to  that  and  kindred  subjects  in 
the  library.  The  intellectual  processes  go  hand  in  hand. 
One  faculty  aroused  into  activity  excites  another,  until 
the  whole  mind  is  aglow  ;  and  they  all,  singly  or  together, 
rush  for  aid,  for  correction,  and  for  guidance  to  the 
shelves  of  a  great  library — that  great  storehouse  of 
learning,  that  repository  of  all  that  has  been  done,  or 
attempted,  or  thought  by  man.  Such  a  library  has 
become  a  necessity  in  every  city  whose  people  expect  to 
rise  above  the  humdrum  of  common  life  ;  and  the  lecture- 
hall,  even  more  than  the  school-room,  leads  directly  to 
its  doors." 

For  many  years  before  the  Johns  Hopkins  University 
was  founded,  the  class  courses  at  the  Peabody  Institute 
served  the  same  public  educational  purpose  as  did  after- 
wards the  lecture  courses  in  Hopkins  Hall.  The  Peabody 
was  for  many  years  the  highest  educational  institution 
in  Baltimore.  In  its  great  auditorium  and  smaller  class- 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  43 

rooms  were  gathered,  season  after  season,  the  most 
cultivated  people  in  the  city,  to  hear  lectures  by  acknowl- 
edged masters  on  literature,  history,  art  and  science  ;  and 
concerts  by  well-trained  musicians  and  singers.  There 
was  no  such  liberal  foundation  in  the  whole  country  as 
the  Peabody  Institute.  One  may  discover  in  it  some  of 
the  best  features  of  the  British  Museum  and  of  a  German 
Conservatory  of  Music,  with  the  educational  ideas  of  the 
Lowell  Institute,  the  American  Lyceum,  and  of  college- 
class  lectures. 

It  was  the  earnest  desire  of  Dr.  Morison  and  of  the 
trustees  that  the  lecture  courses  at  the  Institute  should 
develop  a  love  of  study  and  lead  people  to  an  intelligent 
use  of  the  Peabody  Library.  In  this  high  aim  they  were 
not  disappointed.  Slowly  but  surely  public  taste  was 
elevated  and  the  appreciation  of  good  books  was  devel- 
oped. The  Peabody  became  the  recognized  centre  of 
intellectual  life  in  Baltimore.  Not  only  did  class  courses 
flourish  in  great  variety  at  the  Institute,  but  its  reading- 
room  became  the  seminary  of  much  scholarly  work  and 

i 

quiet  research,  which  went  on  from  day  to  day  almost 
unnoticed  in  a  great  commercial  city,  whose  richest 
merchant  was  soon  to  found  two  other  noble  institutions, 
which,  but  for  the  example  set  by  George  Peabody,  would 
probably  never  have  seen  the  light. 

THE  INSTITUTE  AND  THE  UNIVERSITY. 

The  Johns  Hopkins  University  was  built,  institution- 
ally speaking,  upon  foundations  already  prepared  by  the 
Peabody  Institute.  It  is  easy  to  understand  that  extra- 
ordinary enthusiasm  of  Baltimore  society  for  those  early 
lecture  courses  in  Hopkins  Hall,  by  reflecting  that  this 


44  MEMORIAL   OF  NATHANIEL   HOLMES  MORISON. 

city  had  been  for  nearly  ten  years  a  lecture-loving  com- 
munity. Its  most  cultivated  people  were  friends  and 
patrons  of  the  Peabody  Institute.  Private  school 
teachers  and  their  classes  had  attended  lectures  on 
literature,  art  and  science  at  the  Peabody.  Even  the 
public  schools  were  pervaded  by  the  quickening  influence 
of  George  Peabody,  whose  premiums,*  medals  and 
diplomas  are  yearly  awarded,  together  with  prize  tickets 
to  the  Peabody  lectures.  Twelve  hundred  dollars  per 
annum  are  thus  expended  for  the  promotion  of  good 
school  work  at  the  City  College,  the  girls'  High  Schools, 
and  at  the  School  of  Design  in  the  Maryland  Institute. 
Mr.  Peabody's  views  regarding  the  relation  of  his  Insti- 
tute to  Baltimore  schools  appear  in  his  address,  in  1866, 
to  all  the  school  children  in  the  city,  assembled  in  front 
of  the  Peabody  building,  near  where  his  statue  now 
stands. 

The  lecture  courses  at  the  University  were  instituted 
by  the  authority  of  the  trustees,  some  of  the  most  influ- 
/  ential  of  whom  were  also  members  of  the  Peabody  Board. 
It  was  very  natural  that,  in  their  desire  to  make  the  new 
institution  immediately  useful  to  the  community,  they 
should  open  freely  certain  lectures  to  such  audiences  as 
could  be  accommodated  in  Hopkins  Hall.  The  very 
narrowness  of  the  place  and  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
admission  made  academic  courses  fashionable. 

The  effect  of  this  generous  policy  was  unfortunate  for 
the  class  courses  at  the  Peabody  Institute.  University 
lectures  began  seriously  to  interfere  with  subscriptions 
to  the  annual  course  at  the  Peabody.  For  several  seasons 

*The  first  premiums  were  conferred  upon  graduates  of  the  public 
high  schools  as  early  as  1858. 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  45 

the  most  cultivated  people  in  Baltimore  flocked  to  the 
University.  Meantime  the  Institute  suffered.  Pay  courses 
could  not  compete  with  free  courses.  This  unfortunate 
state  of  things  was  greatly  deplored  by  the  Provost  of 
the  Institute,  but  he  had  confidence  in  the  recovery  of 
Peabody  prestige. 

Indeed,  time  and  experience  soon  began  to  restore  the 
lost  balance  of  power.  The  work  of  the  University  was 
more  and  more  confined  to  its  own  students.  The  Insti- 
tute gradually  recovered  its  hold  upon  intelligent  adult 
classes,  and  a  possible  way  of  harmonizing  the  educa- 
tional work  of  the  two  institutions  was  slowly  and 
experimentally  opened.  When  the  Peabody  Institute 
was  enlarged,  provision  was  made  by  Dr.  Morison's 
plans  for  two  additional  lecture-rooms,  one  seating  about 
eight  hundred,  and  the  other  nearly  two  hundred  persons. 
These  rooms  remained  for  some  time  almost  unused  after 
the  break-up  of  the  Peabody  classes.  In  the  winter  of 
1878-9  Mr.  Sidney  Lanier  organized  a  Shakspere  course 
of  fifty-two  afternoon  lectures,  which  were  given  in  the 
small  lecture-room  at  the  Institute  by  a  group  of  lec- 
turers representing  city  and  university.  Mr.  Lanier  him- 
self gave  forty  lectures  in  this  course  :  Mr.  Edward  G. 
Daves,  five  ;  Colonel  R.  M.  Johnston,  three  ;  Professor  B. 
L.  Gildersleeve,  two ;  Professor  Ira  Remsen,  two.  In 
the  same  place,  by  special  request,  Associate  Professor 
Charles  S.  Hastings  and  Professor  Remsen  gave  class 
courses  on  physics  and  chemistry  to  young  ladies,  with 
their  teachers,  from  day  and  boarding  schools  in  the  city. 
Here,  too,  in  the  small  lecture-room,  by  the  encourage- 
ment of  the  Provost  and  of  Judge  Brown,  who  was  a 
Trustee  of  the  Institute,  the  Historical  Seminary  of  the 


46  MEMORIAL,   OF  NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

University  used  to  meet  around  a  long  table,  with  all  the 
books  they  desired  from  the  library  above. 

In  the  larger  class-room  very  successful  public  courses 
have  been  given  in  recent  years,  under  the  joint  auspices 
of  the  Institute  and  the  University,  by  such  eminent 
lecturers  as  Professors  Gosse  and  Corson  in  English 
Literature,  President  Andrew  D.  White  on  the  history  of 
the  French  Revolution,  and  Professor  Lanciani  upon 
Roman  Archaeology.  Wide  educational  possibilities  are 
now  opening  to  the  combined  energy  of  the  Institute 
and  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  in  connection  with 
these  Peabody  class-rooms.  All  the  best  results  of  the 
English  system  can  be  achieved  in  Baltimore  through 
the  friendly  cooperation  of  these  two  great  educational 
institutions,  as  in  the  case  of  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, England,  and  the  Literary  and  Philosophical 
Society  of  Newcastle,  which  for  nearly  a  century  has 
been  doing  educational  work  like  that  of  the  Peabody 
Institute.  Essential,  however,  to  the  highest  educational 
success  of  such  an  institutional  combination  is  a  return 
to  the  original  business  principle  represented  by  the  class 
courses  of  the  Peabody  Institute,  and  an  introduction  of 
the  pedagogical  devices  of  English  University  Exten- 
sion. 

Dr.  Morison  clearly  foresaw  great  possibilities  of  devel- 
opment for  the  Peabody  system  of  class  lectures.  As  early 
as  1871  he  said  :  "  I  believe  however,  that  this  depart- 
ment of  the  Institute  is  capable  of  an  expansion  which 
will  make  it  more  extensively  useful  to  the  great  body  of 
the  people  than  any  of  its  other  departments.  By  vari- 
ous courses  of  class  lectures,  such  as  have  been  recently 
established,  instruction  of  a  high  grade,  with  costly 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  47 

experiments,  can  be  given  in  every  branch  of  science 
and  literature,  at  merely  nominal  prices  ;  and  the  people 
can  here  acquire  such  an  education  in  these  branches  as 
can  only  be  obtained  elsewhere  in  the  highest  institu- 
tions of  learning.  Lectures  can  be  given  on  literature, 
ancient  and  modern,  on  history,  physiology  and  ethno- 
logy, and  011  all  the  sciences,  including  botany  and 
natural  history,  the  number  of  courses  being  multiplied 
to  suit  the  wants  of  the  people.  The  only  limit  to  this 
expansion  will  be  the  difficulty  of  finding  in  our  midst 
the  right  kind  of  lecturers.  Had  we  a  college  in  the 
neighborhood,  this  difficulty  would  disappear."  The 
presence  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore  now  makes  the  original  idea  of  Dr.  Morison 
capable  of  perfect  realization. 

The  Provost  had  a  noble  conception  of  the  possibilities 
of  the  Peabody  Institute  for  the  future  good  of  Balti- 
more. "  The  public  will  gradually  learn  to  appreciate  an 
institution  which  was  designed  to  aid  men  to  reach  the 
highest  culture  in  those  departments  to  which  it  is 
devoted.  No  benefaction  is  superior  to  that  which 
founds  institutions  of  learning,  in  which  the  best  minds 
can  be  trained,  and  from  which  they  are  sent  forth  to 
inspire  and  elevate  the  human  race.  The  founder  of  a 
hospital  or  an  asylum  may  relieve  a  more  pressing  want, 
but  he  cannot  confer  so  broad  a  blessing.  Every  culti- 
vated intellect,  whether  in  literature,  science,  music,  or 
art,  which  shall  owe  to  this  institution  its  stimulus  or 
development,  will  not  only  be  a  living  witness  of  the 
value  of  this  great  benefaction,  but  will  become  in  the 
community  the  centre  of  an  ever-widening  sphere  of 
good.  Culture  spreads  from  above  downward,  and  the 


48  MEMORIAL  OF  NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MOKISON. 

whole  people  are,  in  time,  raised  and  benefited  by  such 
influences.  The  Institute  thus  becomes  a  perpetual  foun- 
tain of  good,  whose  streams  flow  through  a  thousand 
human  channels  to  stimulate  and  bless.  I  have  an  abid- 
ing faith  in  the  great  future  that  is  before  us,  if  no 
serious  mistakes  are  made  ;  and,  so  long  as  the  fund  is 
safe,  no  mistake  is  possible  which  cannot  be  remedied  " 
(Report  of  1870). 

CONSERVATORY  OF  Music. 

The  name  originally  employed  by  Mr.  Peabody  and  his 
trustees  for  the  musical  department  of  the  Peabody  In- 
stitute was  "  The  Academy  of  Music,"  a  name  since 
applied  to  the  principal  theatre  and  music-hall  of  Balti- 
more. In  1874  the  name  "  Conservatory  of  Music  "  was 
adopted.  Public  concerts  in  the  hall  of  the  Peabody 
Institute  began  in  1866,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  James 
M.  Deems.  At  these  Saturday  evening  concerts,  music 
of  a  high  order  was  afforded  the  Baltimore  public,  by  the 
best  available  talent  in  the  city.  Lectures  were  some- 
times given  explaining  the  music.  Dr.  Morison  in  his 
first  annual  report  said:  "  The  great  object  has  been  to 
cultivate  the  taste  of  the  people,  and  to  elevate  it  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  great  masses  in  musical  composition. 
The  increasing  interest  shown  by  the  public  in  these  con- 
certs must  be  gratifying  to  the  committee  which  arranged 
them.  At  present  this  department,  more  than  any  other, 
seems  to  be  winning  the  sympathy  of  the  people  and 
making  the  Institute  a  public  necessity."  The  average 
attendance  upon  these  eleven  concerts  was  516. 

In  the  autumn  of  1868  the  instruction  of  pupils  was 
begun  in  a  house  belonging  to  the  Institute  in  Mount 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  49 

Vernon  Place.  Mr.  L.  H.  Southard,  of  Boston,  was  tjie 
first  director,  and  Messrs.  Courlaender  and  Allen  were 
the  first  professors.  The  number  of  pupils  the  first  term 
was  .148,  including  the  chorus  class  of  64.  The  first  year 
there  were  altogether  173  students  ;  the  second  year  213. 
The  second  season  twelve  regular  concerts  were  given  on 
alternate  Saturday  afternoons,  with  an  orchestra  of  forty- 
one  members. 

The  third  year  of  the  "Academy  of  Music,"  public 
interest  in  the  concerts  and  chorus  class  began  to  fall  off. 
Mr.  Southard  resigned  his  position  as  director  in  1871, 
and  Mr.  Asger  Hamerik,  of  Copenhagen,  Denmark,  was 
appointed  in  his  place.  Under  Mr.  Hamerik's  instruction 
the  classes  increased  in  numbers.  Five  Symphony  Con- 
certs and  fourteen  "  Musical  Soirees  "  were  given  during 
the  year,  and  the  concerts  were  better  attended  than 
before.  The  Soirees  were  designed  for  the  special  benefit 
of  the  pupils,  in  whom  it  was  desired  to  inspire  a  taste 
for  classical  music,  by  giving  them  an  opportunity  of 
hearing  the  best  musical  compositions.  Superior  pupils 
were  sometimes  appointed  to  perform  at  these  Soirees,  in 
the  presence  of  their  friends  and  invited  guests.  This 
was  the  origin  of  the  so-called  "  Students'  Concerts," 
one  of  the  most  charming  features  of  the  Peabody 
Conservatory  of  Music.  Piano  recitals  were  begun  by 
Madame  Auerbach  in  the  spring  of  1875. 

A  proof  of  Dr.  Morison's  interest  in  the  promotion  of 
musical  culture  in  Baltimore  is  seen  in  all  his  annual 
reports.  Although  not  especially  fond  of  classical  music, 
he  faithfully  attended  all  the  Symphony  Concerts.  In  1872 
he  discussed  the  subject  of  "  Free  Pupils."  The  trustees 
had  admitted  meritorious  pupils  from  the  public  schools, 


50  MEMORIAL  OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

on  nomination  of  the  School  Commissioners.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  there  was  no  instrumental  instruction  in 
the  public  schools,  and  very  little  opportunity  of  testing 
the  capacity  of  school  children  for  learning  music,  Dr. 
Morison  made  the  following  suggestion,  which  recalls 
his  early  experience  as  a  student  in  New  Hampshire  : 
"  Instead  of  confining  the  competition  for  these  scholar- 
ships to  persons  belonging  to  the  public  schools,  I  would 
open  them  to  all  who  shall  have  the  requisites  prescribed. 
We  have  a  conspicuous  example  of  the  success  of  such  a 
plan  in  Phillips  Academy  at  Exeter,  New  Hampshire, 
which  has  raised  itself  to  the  very  headship  of  the  schools 
in  this  country,  by  offering  a  free  education  to  some 
twelve  boys,  who  are  selected  solely  with  reference 
to  character,  capacity  and  indigence  ;  and  by  sternly 
dismissing  all  who  do  not  maintain  the  requisite  standard 
of  scholarship.  It  is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  influ- 
ence of  a  small  body  of  earnest  students,  with  high 
endowments  and  fixed  purposes,  on  the  standard  of 
scholarship  in  any  school ;  and  we  have  it  in  our  power 
to  secure  all  the  advantages  of  such  an  influence." 

The  idea  embodied  in  this  recommendation  was  adopted 
by  the  trustees,  and  certain  free  scholarships  were  after- 
wards filled  by  the  musical  committee  in  charge  of  the 
Conservatory.  Deserving  pupils  from  the  public  schools 
continued  to  be  appointed  as  free  scholars  at  the  Peabody , 
but  the  standard  of  admission  was  gradually  raised,  until 
the  Conservatory  became  a  high  school  for  music.  The 
preparation  of  pupils  for  Peabody  classes  was  left  to 
private  instruction.  In  his  report  for  1876,  Dr.  Morison 
urged  that  all  candidates  for  degrees  in  the  Conservatory 
should  be  required  to  pass  a  satisfactory  examination  in 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  51 

prescribed  studies,  and  that  they  should  attain  a  superior 
degree  of  excellence  before  receiving  diplomas. 

Throughout  the  entire  history  of  the  Conservatory  of 
Music,  Dr.  Morison's  influence  was  always  strongly  ex- 
erted in  support  of  higher  standards  of  musical  culture. 
In  his  report  for  1877  there  is  an  interesting  review  of 
the  history  of  the  efforts  of  the  Peabody  Institute  to  estab- 
lish in  Baltimore  a  superior  class  of  concerts.  He  said  : 
"Amidst  much  that  is  discouraging,  it  is  gratifying  to 
note  the  gradual  increase  of  the  number  of  season  tickets 
sold— rising  from  119  in  1868-9  to  346  in  1876-7— as  these 
tickets  indicate  the  number  of  persons  really  interested 
in  the  production  of  good  music,  and,  therefore,  willing 
to  support  it."  Since  that  time,  popular  appreciation  of 
the  musical  department  of  the  Peabody  Institute  has 
grown  with  each  succeeding  year,  until  now  the  Conser- 
vatory, with  its  Symphony  Concerts,  Students'  Concerts, 
Piano  Recitals,  and  admirable  training  under  accom- 
plished instructors,  has  developed  a  music-loving  com- 
munity. 

ART  GALLERY. 

The  first  mention  of  the  Gallery  of  Art,  in  Dr.  Mori- 
son's  reports,  is  in  1873,  when  he  records  Mr.  John  W. 
McCoy's  generous  gift  of  Rinehart's  statue  of  Clytie  to 
the  Institute.  The  Provost  said  :  "  This  beautiful  piece 
of  sculpture  furnishes  a  noble  beginning  for  the  Art 
Gallery,  which,  at  no  distant  day,  promises  to  become 
the  most  attractive  department  of  the  Institute."  In 
1873  a  plaster  bust  of  William  Pinkney  was  modeled  by 
Mr.  Innes  Randolph,  and  one  of  John  P.  Kennedy,  the 
first  President  of  the  Peabody  Institute,  was  modeled  by 
M.  Leonce  Rabillon.  These  busts  were  copied  in  Paris, 


52  MEMORIAL  OP   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

in  marble,  under  the  supervision  of  M.  Rabillon,  and  are 
now  to  be  seen  in  the  large  auditorium. 

In  1876  the  Provost  records  with  evident  satisfaction 
the  gift  of  $15,000  by  Mr.  John  W.  Garrett,  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  for  the  purchase  of  casts,  busts, 
and  copies  of  the  best  sculptures  to  be  found  in  the  great 
galleries  of  Europe.  He  said  :  "  This  is  the  first  gift  in 
money  that  the  Institute  has  received  since  the  gifts  of 
its  founder ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  may  prove  to 
be  an  example  that  wealthy  men  will  deem  worthy  of 
imitation."  In  the  same  report  he  described  the  suite 
of  rooms  which  the  trustees  were  preparing  for  the  Art 
Department. 

Dr.  Morison  took  the  greatest  interest  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Art  Gallery.  In  1878  a  great  number  of 
copies  of  antique  statues,  busts,  and  bas-reliefs  arrived 
from  London  and  Paris,  and  some  of  them  were  promptly 
exhibited  in  connection  with  a  loan  exhibition  of  paint- 
ings, sculpture,  and  bric-a-brac,  held  in  the  art  rooms  of 
the  Institute  under  the  management  of  a  committee  of 
citizens.  Many  of  the  pieces  of  statuary  were  broken  in. 
shipment  and  could  not  be  immediately  exhibited.  In 
1880  additional  shipments  arrived  from  Europe,  includ- 
ing a  magnificent  copy  of  the  frieze  of  the  Parthenon. 
The  Peabody  Institute  already  owned  many  copies  of 
antique  sculpture,  including  the  Parthenon  frieze,  works 
which  had  been  purchased  from  the  Art  Institute  of 
Maryland  when  it  was  finally  closed.  These  copies  were 
presented  by  the  Peabody  Institute  to  the  Maryland  His- 
torical Society,  where  they  are  now  on  exhibition.  In 
1880  a  bronze  copy  of  the  Ghiberti  gates,  half  the  size  of 
the  originals  in  the  Baptistery  of  Florence,  was  pur- 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  '>'•'> 

chased  by  Mr.  Garrett  and  added  to  the  Peabody  Art 
Gallery. 

The  Peabody  Gallery  of  Art  was  first  opened  to  the 
public  in  May,  1881,  and  immediately  attracted  many 
visitors,  over  2,000  in  that  month.  From  10,000  to  16,000 
persons  a  year  have  since  visited  the  Art  Gallery.  "  In 
fitting  up  the  rooms  and  arranging  the  casts,"  said  Dr. 
Morison,  "great  care  has  been  taken  to  render  the  collec- 
tion as  harmonious  in  its  effects  as  the  works  we  have  and 
the  space  at  our  disposal  will  permit.  Statues  having  a 
general  ideal  resemblance  have  been  grouped  together, 
so  that  the  treatment  of  similar  subjects  by  different 
artists  may  be  easily  compared." 

In  making  this  collection  Dr.  Morison  aimed  at  secur- 
ing the  finest  statues  of  all  ages.  He  always  endeavored 
to  obtain  the  very  best.  In  his  report  for  1881  he  said, 
very  modestly  and  simply  :  "A  catalogue  of  the  objects 
contained  in  the  gallery  has  been  prepared  and  printed." 
This  catalogue  was  Mr.  Morison's  own  work,  and  contains 
the  results  of  most  careful  study  on  his  part  of  all  the 
objects  of  art  exhibited  in  the  Peabody  Gallery.  He 
took  the  greatest  pains  with  this  compilation  from  the 
leading  authorities  upon  art  history,  and  endeavored  to 
make  his  work  an  instructive  manual  for  the  use  of 
visitors.  And  such  it  has  indeed  proved.  Four  thousand 
copies  of  the  work  were  quickly  sold,  and  in  1888  it 
passed  into  its  third  edition  of  2,000.  Dr.  Morison's  cata- 
logue has  been  sought  as  an  educational  work,  some  of 
the  city  schools  ordering  many  copies  at  a  time.  The 
book  clearly  indicates  a  revival  of  Dr.  Morison's  early 
interest  in  practical  teaching. 

Of  special  interest  in  the  later  development  of  the  Art 


54  MEMORIAL   OP    NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

Gallery  have  been  the  loan  exhibitions  of  (1)  John  W. 
Garrett's  collection  of  pictures;  (2)  T.  Harrison  Garrett's 
collection  of  prints  ;  (3)  the  objects  of  antique  workman- 
ship belonging  to  the  Baltimore  branch  of  the  American 
Archaeological  Institute  ;  and  the  permanent  exhibition 
of  the  pictures  formerly  belonging  to  Mr.  John  W. 
McCoy,  and  by  him  bequeathed  to  the  Institute.  Art 
students  have  received  permission  to  copy  from  the 
works  in  the  gallery,  and  thus,  as  Dr.  Morison  well  said, 
"  The  gallery  becomes  an  important  auxiliary  in  the  art 
education  of  the  city." 

THE  PEABODY  CATALOGUE. 

The  idea  of  a  printed  catalogue  for  the  Peabody  Library 
is  first  mentioned  by  the  Provost  in  his  report  for  1870. 
Before  that  time  great  pains  had  been  taken  in  the  pre- 
paration of  a  card  catalogue  of  subjects  and  authors,  and 
especially  in  the  analysis  of  the  contents  of  important 
books.  Any  student  or  reader  knows  how  misleading 
and  inadequate  mere  titles  are,  and  how  important  it  is 
that  the  subject-matter  be  duly  indexed.  One  of  the  very 
best  features  of  the  Peabody  library  is  its  analytical 
catalogue,  begun  on  slips  of  paper  at  least  fourteen 
years  before  the  first  volume  of  the  great  catalogue  was 
printed. 

In  his  report  for  1870  Dr.  Morison  said  concerning  the 
work  upon  the  catalogue  :  "  It  is  very  important  that  it 
should  be  done  thoroughly,  as  we  wish  it  to  be  a  credit 
to  the  Institute  when  completed."  The  dominant  idea 
in  his  mind,  even  at  that  early  date,  was  to  mass  all 
available  authorities  upon  specific  subjects.  He  said  : 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  55 

"  That  catalogue  is  best  for  use  which  most  readily  and 
intelligently  answers  the  questions  :  Is  a  given  book  in 
the  library  ?  What  books  does  the  library  contain  re- 
lating to  a  given  subject  ?  Such  an  arrangement  of 
matter,  such  a  division  of  subjects,  and  such  an  analysis 
of  works  as  shall  help  the  reader  to  answer  these  ques- 
tions most  readily  are  most  desirable  to  be  made." 

In  1871,  speaking  of  the  management  of  the  Institute, 
the  Provost  said:  "Every  spare  moment  of  our  libra- 
rian's time  is  now  occupied  in  preparing  a  catalogue  for 
printing,  which  will  open  to  the  public  as  complete  a 
knowledge  of  our  collection  of  books  as  it  is  possible  to 
present  in  such  a  work.  We  intend  to  make  this  cata- 
logue a  real  help  to  our  readers,  and  an  honor  to  the 
Institute  and  to  the  city." 

The  first  volume  of  the  catalogue  of  the  Peabody 
Library  was  published  in  1883.  In  the  preface  to  that 
volume  it  is  stated  that  "this  catalogue  was  begun  in 
the  autumn  of  1809,  and  has  been  continued,  without 
other  interruption  than  the  ordinary  demands  of  the 
library  service,  for  fourteen  years.  The  number  of  per- 
sons employed  upon  it  has  been  small,  and  no  one  has 
been  exclusively  devoted  to  this  work.  On  the  Provost 
of  the  Institute,  who  is  also  its  principal  librarian,  de- 
volved the  whole  responsibility  of  preparing  the  plan, 
which  was  submitted  to  the  Library  Committee  and 
received  its  approval ;  and  he  has  had  the  general  super- 
vision and  control  of  the  entire  work,  attending  minutely 
to  the  arrangement  of  its  parts,  to  the  selecting  of  paper 
and  type,  to  the  printing,  and  the  final  proof-reading. 
The  execution  of  this  plan  has  been  under  the  immediate 
charge  of  Mr.  P.  R.  Uhler,  the  librarian,  whose  training 


56  MEMORIAL  OF  NATHANIEL   HOLMES  MORISON. 

as  a  naturalist  has  given  him  great  advantages  in  all 
work  requiring  minute  accuracy  and  close  attention  to 
details.  He  has  devoted  himself  to  this  heavy  task  with 
untiring  zeal  and  energy,  and  I  cannot  too  strongly 
express  my  sense  of  his  individual  services  in  every  part 
of  the  work." 

Dr.  Morison  proceeds  to  give  personal  credit  to  other 
members  of  his  staff,  who  had  been  more  or  less  engaged 
upon  the  work  of  the  catalogue.  Like  all  great  literary 
undertakings,  the  Peabody  catalogue  was  undoubtedly 
the  result  of  a  development  process,  in  which  the  best 
experience  of  previous  workers  was  duly  utilized.  The 
Provost  says  that  when  the  work  was  begun  in  1869,  Mr. 
Jewett's  catalogue  of  the  Boston  Public  Library  and 
Panizzi's  rules  for  the  catalogue  of  the  British  Museum 
were  the  only  valuable  guides  then  accessible.  All  prob- 
lems not  already  solved  by  these  authorities  had  to  be 
worked  out  independently  by  the  Peabody  cataloguers. 
The  rules  for  cataloguing  that  have  now  been  so  well 
developed  by  Mr.  Cutter,  librarian  of  the  Boston  Ath- 
enaeum, had  not  then  been  published.  Indeed,  the  first 
volume  of  the  catalogue  of  the  Athenaeum  library  did 
not  appear  until  1874. 

The  work  of  preparing  the  great  catalogue  went  011 
quietly  in  the  Peabody  library  for  many  years  before  the 
scheme  of  publication  was  finally  matured.  The  typo- 
graphical model  actually  chosen  by  Dr.  Morison  appears 
to  have  been  the  Index-Catalogue  of  the  Library  of  the 
Surgeon -General's  Office,  prepared  by  Dr.  J.  S.  Billings, 
of  Washington,  D.  C.,  the  first  volume  of  whose  magnifi- 
cent work  was  published  from  the  Government  Printing 
Office  in  1880.  While  the  general  typographical  appear- 


PUBLIC    SERVICES.  57 

ance  of  the  two  works  is  much  the  same,  there  are  radical 
differences  and  many  original  features  in  the  Peabody 
catalogue.  Dr.  Billings'  Index-Catalogue  deals  only 
with  medical  science,  surgery,  and  kindred  branches 
of  human  knowledge,  whereas  the  Peabody  catalogue 
attempts  to  cover  the  entire  range  of  art,  science,  and 
literature.  In  both  works  subjects  and  authors  are  inter- 
blended  in  strictly  alphabetical  order,  and  in  both  all 
possible  references  are  grouped  under  specific  subjects 
in  the  form  of  suggestive  bibliographies  ;  but  the  Pea- 
body  catalogue  has  the  distinguishing  feature  of  alpha- 
betical analyses  of  the  contents  of  serial  volumes,  for 
example,  of  the  proceedings  of  learned  societies.  This 
work  of  analyzing  the  contents  of  books  and  serials 
began,  as  we  have  seen,  very  early  in  the  history  of  the 
Institute,  and  the  great  Peabody  catalogue  is  the  prac- 
tical result  of  this  long,  laborious  process. 

In  the  preface  to  the  first  volume,  Dr.  Morison  thus 
explains  his  plan  :  "This catalogue  is  constructed  on  the 
idea  that  the  best  possible  catalogue  is  that  which  best 
makes  known  to  the  average  reader  the  entire  contents 
of  a  library.  It  is  intended  to  answer  the  three  important 
questions  :  Is  a  given  book  in  the  library  ?  Are  the  works 
of  a  given  author  there  ?  What  books,  articles,  and 
information  does  the  library  contain  on  a  given  subject  ? 
A  perfect  catalogue  would  furnish  complete  answers  to 
all  these  questions.  The  plan  of  this  catalogue  is  that  of 
a  single  alphabet,  in  which  every  book  whose  author  is 
known  is  entered  three  times— under  its  author's  name, 
under  its  title,  and  under  its  subject.  Periodicals,  bound 
pamphlets,  the  publications  of  the  great  academies  and 
learned  societies  (except  their  scientific  divisions),  and 


58  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

historical,  antiquarian,  and  other  miscellaneous  collec- 
tions are  all  indexed  and  the  references  distributed  under 
their  appropriate  heads,  the  number  of  pages  in  each 
article,  the  volume  and  page  where  it  may  be  found, 
with  the  author's  name  when  known,  and,  if  a  periodi- 
cal, the  year  in  which  it  was  printed,  being  carefully 
marked."  This  account  shows  that  the  Peabody  cata- 
logue was  simply  a  development  of  the  plan  outlined  in 
Dr.  Morison's  annual  report  of  1870,  already  quoted. 

A  review,  by  the  present  writer,  of  the  first  sheets  of 
the  Peabody  catalogue  appeared  in  the  form  of  notes 
printed  in  The  Nation,  March  16,  1882.  more  than  a  year 
before  the  publication  of  the  first  volume.  The  following 
favorable  judgment  of  the  beginnings  of  a  great  work, 
which  steadily  improved  as  it  advanced,  was  especially 
gratifying  to  Dr.  Morison,  and  it  is  here  reprinted  : 

"  THE  NATION  "  ON  THE  PEABODY  CATALOGUE. 

"  The  Peabody  Institute  of  Baltimore  has  now  in  type 
something  over  150  royal  octavo  pages  of  its  catalogue, 
upon  the  preparation  of  which,  by  means  of  an  analytical 
card  catalogue,  the  working  force  of  the  library  has  been 
employed  for  the  past  thirteen  years.  It  will  require 
four  or  five  years  longer  to  complete  the  arrangement 
and  printing  of  the  catalogue,  and  it  will  then  probably 
embrace  over  4000  pages,  published  in  four  or  five  vol- 
umes. The  proof-sheets,  covering  thus  far  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  subjects  and  authors  catalogued  under  the 
letter  A,  promise  certain  valuable  improvements  in  the 
art  of  cataloguing  public  libraries  in  this  country.  Under 
a  given  subject,  or  author,  will  be  found  not  merely  an 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  59 

alphabetical  arrangement  of  the  main  authorities  and 
titles,  but  also  an  alphabetical  grouping  of  the  chief  col- 
lateral material,  monographs,  essays,  magazine  articles, 
and  the  like,  that  may  be  found  in  the  Peabody  Library 
touching  the  subject  or  author  in  hand.  For  example, 
under  the  head  of  'Aesthetics '  we  find,  first,  an  alpha- 
betical list  of  authors  who  have  written  more  or  less 
systematic  works  upon  this  subject ;  and,  second,  in 
finer  type,  an  alphabetical  list  of  minor  authorities,  dis- 
sertations, and  miscellaneous  articles.  The  name  of  the 
author,  if  known,  is  the  guiding  principle  of  this  arrange- 
ment, otherwise  the  catchword  of  the  essay  or  monograph 
is  given,  like  the  names  of  authors,  in  bold,  heavy  type, 
so  as  to  attract  the  eye  at  once  upon  the  closely  printed 
page.  Under  the  head  of  an  author,  for  example,  '  Arago, 
Dominique  Frangois  Jean,  1786-1853,'  we  find  an  alpha- 
betical analysis  of  his  '  GEuvres  completes,'  seventeen 
volumes.  Instead  of  reprinting  the  table  of  contents  for 
each  volume,  the  contents  of  the  whole  series  are  arranged 
alphabetically,  the  catchword  (not  necessarily  the  initial 
word)  of  the  title  serving  as  a  guide  in  the  classification.  .  . 
This  system  of  registering  articles  by  alphabetical  catch- 
words becomes  of  immense  value  when  applied  to  the 
publications  of  learned  societies,  like  the  literary  collec- 
tions of  the  French  Institute,  Cambridge  Philosophical 
Transactions,  the  Publications  of  the  Royal  Irish  Acad- 
emy, and  of  the  academies  of  St.  Petersburg,  Berlin, 
Vienna,  Brussels,  and  the  archives  of  Munich,  and 
even  to  English  and  American  reviews.  Most  catalogues, 
if  they  take  any  notice  at  all  of  the  contents  of  a  long 
series  of  volumes,  simply  give  the  contents  of  each  vol- 
ume by  itself,  the  result  being,  in  the  case  of  a  very  long 


60  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL  HOLMES   MORISON. 

series,  that  a  student  is  sometimes  obliged  to  look  through 
several  pages  of  chaotic  titles,  in  order  to  ascertain 
whether  there  is  any  material  relating  to  the  subject  he 
may  have  in  hand.  This  annoyance  and  grievous  waste 
of  time  will  be  entirely  spared  if  the  Peabody  idea  is 
systematically  carried  out  and  subject-titles  are  arranged 
alphabetically  with  appended  references  to  volumes,  but 
without  regard  to  the  succession  of  volumes.  It  should 
be  as  easy  to  find  one's  way  through  a  vast  collection  of 
monographs  and  special  treatises,  as  through  a  complete 
dictionary  of  the  English  or  French  language.  The 
body  of  existing  science  should  be  an  encyclopaedia  of 
knowledge,  properly  indexed  for  the  use  of  students,  so 
that  they  may  add  to  its  volume  without  duplicating  the 
work  of  predecessors. 

"  The  practical  difficulties  and  labor  involved  in  such 
a  classification  are  beyond  all  estimate,  for  the  present 
state  of  the  world's  scientific  papers  is  but  little  removed 
from  chaos.  The  Peabody  idea  has  not  yet  been  applied 
to  the  classification  of  the  special  articles  on  natural 
science  to  be  found  in  the  journals  of  European  academies, 
but  very  much  has  been  done  in  the  fields  of  literature, 
art  and  history.  The  idea  is  capable  of  indefinite  expan- 
sion, and  is  only  a  suggestion  of  what  the  art  of  cata- 
loguing a  great  public  library  of  research  may  one  day 
become.  The  responsibility  of  the  Peabody  undertaking 
falls  upon  the  Provost  of  the  Institute,  Dr.  N.  H.  Morison, 
who,  in  his  personal  direction  of  this  great  work,  is  ably 
seconded  by  Mr.  Philip  R.  Uhler,  the  official  librarian  of 
the  Peabody.  The  pains  these  gentlemen  have  taken  in 
simply  laying  the  foundations  for  this  catalogue  is  not, 
and  cannot  yet  be,  appreciated  by  the  general  public. 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  61 

The  special,  analytical  card  catalogue,  registering  not 
merely  all  books  entered  upon  the  public  card  catalogue, 
but  all  magazine  articles,  analyses  of  journals  and  literary 
collections,  was  an  indispensable  preliminary  to  a  pub- 
lished catalogue.  The  work,  when  finished,  will  be  a 
vast  collection  of  bibliographies — literally  thousands  of 
classified  lists — which  will  prove  of  the  greatest  value  to 
Baltimore  specialists,  in  showing  what  resources  are 
already  available,  and  will  also  be  of  the  greatest  con- 
venience to  the  public  at  large." 

The  printing  of  the  Peabody  catalogue  has  been  con- 
tinued from  1882  to  the  present  time.  The  work,  being 
one  of  the  largest  ever  undertaken  by  any  library,  has 
necessarily  advanced  slowly,  at  the  rate  of  a  volume 
every  two  years.  The  working  force  and  the  available 
funds  were  very  limited.  The  whole  work  has  proved  a 
remarkable  success,  and  "  has  received  unstinted  praise 
from  some  of  the  best  librarians  in  this  country  and 
Europe,  and  from  men  of  the  highest  literary  attain- 
ments." Copies  of  the  catalogue  were  sent  to  all  the 
libraries  and  institutions  to  which  the  Peabody  was 
specially  indebted  for  publications  received,  also  to  the 
large  reference  libraries  of  Europe  and  America,  and  to 
many  leading  universities  of  the  world.  Students  and 
librarians  who  have  frequent  occasion  to  consult  this 
wonderful  Peabody  catalogue,  justly  regard  it  with 
admiration.  In  addition  to  this  useful  work  in  preparing 
a  catalogue,  the  Peabody  staff  has  indexed  one  hundred 
and  seventeen  serial  volumes  of  scientific  magazines  for 
the  new  edition  of  Poole's  Periodical  Index,  which  was 
completed  with  the  combined  aid  of  the  great  libraries  of 
England  and  America. 


02  MEMORIAL  OF   NATHANIEL  HOLMES   MORISON. 

Dr.  Morison  directed  the  work  on  the  Peabody  cata- 
logue, and  nearly  ruined  his  eyesight  in  the  final  proof- 
reading. He  decided  all  questions  regarding  the  print- 
ing, especially  those  involving  nice  points  of  scholarship 
and  literary  accuracy.  He  regarded  this  catalogue  as 
the  literary  monument  of  his  administration,  and  such  it 
really  is,  for  he  planned,  shaped,  and  directed  it  from  its 
beginning  to  the  last  volume,  which  was  left  incomplete 
at  his  death,  but  which  will  be  finished  according  to  his 
idea. 

PEABODY  LIBRARY  BUILDING. 

Dr.  Morison  not  only  planned  the  catalogue,  but  also 
the  extension  of  the  Peabody  building,  with  the  technical 
aid  of  Lind,  the  architect.  The  East  wing  was  begun  in 
1875  and  was  completed  in  1878.  Existing  diagrams  in 
the  possession  of  his  family  contain  written  directions 
in  his  own  hand,  and  show  to  what  extent  the  recon- 
struction of  the  Peabody  Institute  was  Dr.  Morison's  own 
work.  Pictures  of  the  interior  and  exterior  of  the  Pea- 
body  Institute,  with  plans  and  descriptions  of  every  floor, 
are  given  in  his  report  for  1879.  Speaking  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  new  Peabody  building,  Dr.  Morison,  in  his 
report  for  1878,  said  :  "  I  have  watched  its  progress  with 
the  keenest  interest,  from  the  laying  of  the  first  brick 
till  now,  visiting  it  two  or  three  times  every  day,  and,  as 
it  rose,  following  it  up  to  the  highest  ridge  of  its  roof, 
and  I  have  seen  nothing  but  faithful,  honest  work  every- 
where." 

The  Peabody  is  undoubtedly  the  best  example  in  the 
country  of  what  may  be  called  the  cathedral-effect  in 
a  library  interior.  Although  in  striking  contrast  to 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  t',:\ 

the  stack  system  of  Mr.  Justin  Winsor,  the  librarian 
of  Harvard  University,  and  to  the  warehouse  or  depart- 
ment system  of  Dr.  W.  F.  Poole,  of  the  Newberry 
Library,  Chicago,  the  Peabody  plan  will  always  have  its 
friends  and  admirers.  There  are  few  visitors  of  the 
Peabody  Institute  who  are  not  impressed  with  the  archi- 
tectural dignity  and  manifest  beauty  of  that  vast  library- 
nave,  with  its  chapel-alcoves.  The  mere  sight  of  a  grand 
collection  of  books,  nobly  placed  and  representing  the 
wisdom  of  all  ages,  may  not  in  itself  be  a  liberal  educa- 
tion, but  it  undoubtedly  has  a  profound  influence  upon 
the  imagination,  like  a  glimpse  of  a  Gothic  cathedral  or 
of  the  Great  Pyramids.  Object  lessons  in  art  and  science 
are  by  no  means  to  be  despised  in  these  latter  days,  when 
both  architecture  and  learning  are  often  subordinated  to 
mere  utility. 

In  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  Circulars  for  August, 
1883,  there  is  a  note  from  Dr.  Morison  regarding  the 
Peabody  Library  building.  The  note  is  here  reprinted, 
because  it  best  represents  the  Provost's  views  regarding 
library  construction  : 

"  Statements,  utterly  erroneous  and  misleading,  in  re- 
gard to  the  capacity  and  cost  of  this  library  building, 
have  been  widely  circulated,  and  I  have  been  repeatedly 
urged  to  correct  them.  In  these  estimates  the  capacity  of 
the  library  is  put  at  150,000  volumes,  and  the  cost  of 
storage  at  $2  per  volume.  I  have  gone  carefully  over  the 
calculations  once  more,  and  find  the  capacity  of  the  main 
hall  for  books  to  be  300,000  volumes,  allowing  but  eight 
volumes  to  the  running  foot  on  the  actual  shelving — all 
that  our  large  volumes  will  permit.  The  other  rooms  in 
which  books  are  stored  will  hold,  on  the  same  basis  of 


64  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES    MORISON. 

eight  books  to  the  foot  of  actual  shelving,  28,000  volumes, 
making  the  capacity  of  the  library  328,000  volumes. 

"  The  cost  of  the  fire-proof  marble  wing  containing  the 
library,  including  shelving  and  furniture,  was  $342,000. 
Seven-fifteenths  of  this  wing,  by  actual  floor  measure- 
ment, are  occupied  by  art  galleries  and  lecture-halls  ;  and 
must  have  cost  at  least  one-third  of  the  whole,  or  $114,000, 
leaving  the  actual  cost  of  the  library  building  $228,000, 
or  less  than  70  cents  per  volume  for  storage  instead  of  $2. 

"  But  the  capacity  of  libraries  is  usually  estimated  on 
the  basis  of  ten  books  to  the  square  foot  of  shelving 
instead  of  eight  books  to  the  running  foot.  This  library, 
on  account  of  its  many  folios  and  other  large  books, 
averages  at  present  but  eight  volumes  to  the  running 
foot.  Allow  ten  books  to  the  running  foot,  and  the  re- 
sult will  be  a  capacity  of  410,000  volumes  and  a  cost  of 
fifty-five  cents  a  volume  for  storage ;  but  make  the  usual 
count  of  ten  books  to  the  square  foot  of  shelving,  and 
the  capacity  becomes  500,000  volumes  and  the  cost  of 
storage  forty-five  cents  a  volume.  In  regard  to  the 
statement  that  this  library  is  so  constructed  that  it  can 
never  be  enlarged,  it  may  be  said  that  the  lecture-halls 
and  art  galleries  can  all  be  thrown  into  it,  and  thus  its 
capacity  for  books  be  more  than  doubled. 

"After  having  given  many  years  to  the  study  of  library 
economy  and  library  architecture,  after  having  visited 
all  the  great  libraries  of  the  world,  and  examined  plans 
innumerable  of  both  the  old  and  new  styles  of  building, 
I  have  been  forced  to  the  conviction,  that,  for  any  library, 
like  that  of  a  university,  where  the  readers  are  to  have 
access  to  the  shelves,  the  central  hall  with  surrounding 
alcoves  is  by  far  the  most  convenient  and  the  most  beau- 


PUBLIC    SERVICES.  65 

tiful  of  all  library  structures ;  and  that  it  can  be  made 
as  economical  as  any  yet  devised  which  will  furnish  the 
same  amount  of  light,  air,  and  general  accommodation 
to  reader  and  attendants.  It  is  the  only  form  of  library 
that  admits  of  fine  architectural  proportions  and  decora- 
tion ;  and  surely  the  settings  and  surroundings  of  books 
are  as  suitable  for  ornamentation,  are  as  legitimate  ob- 
jects on  which  to  display  artistic  beauty  and  taste  as 
title-pages,  paper,  print,  margins,  and  bindings.  A 
grand  hall,  filled  with  the  gathered  wisdom  of  ages, 
visibly  set  in  alcoves  chastely  but  richly  ornamented, 
will  impress  the  young  student  with  a  respect  for  books 
and  a  sense  of  their  importance  which  he  will  never 
forget,  and  which  no  multiplication  of  *  stacks '  will 
ever  give.  I  can  but  think  that  the  present  rage  for 
'  stacks '  and  warehouse  packings — fit  only  for  popular 
circulating  libraries* — is  a  temporary  mania  which  must 
soon  pass  away.  The  falling  of  dirt  and  the  rising  of 
heat  through  the  perforated  or  grated  floors  required  for 
light  in  the  warehouse  plan  of  building,  and  the  danger 
of  leakage  and  drip  from  glass  roofs  placed  over  the 
books,  are  fatal  objections  to  their  use.  Solid  floors 
alone,  as  this  library  has  shown,  will  keep  the  highest 
alcoves  at  as  low  a  temperature  as  the  lowest,  and  that 
is  a  fact  of  the  utmost  importance  in  library  architecture. 

N.  H.  MORISON,  Provost. 
PEABODY  INSTITUTE,  May  11,  1883." 

*Dr.  Morison  favored  the  stack  system  for  the  Pratt  Library,  which 
he  largely  planned,  even  to  its  exterior  decorations. 


66        MEMORIAL  OP  NATHANIEL  HOLMES  MORISON. 

CONCLUSION. 

After  Dr.  Morison's  death  the  administrative  mech- 
anism which  he  so  carefully  devised  continued  to  run 
on  without  break,  smoothly  and  efficiently.  Every- 
thing was  so  perfectly  adjusted  and  all  matters  were  in 
such  absolute  order  that  his  successor  in  office,  Mr. 
Philip  R.  Uhler,  who  had  been  with  Dr.  Morison  from 
the  beginning  of  his  administration,  found  no  difficulties 
or  obstructions  in  the  way.  By  a  kind  of  institutional 
momentum  the  machinery  moved  on  without  jar  or 
confusion. 

The  Peabody  Institute  will  never  cease  to  feel  the 
influence  of  the  master  mind  and  shaping  hand  of  Dr. 
Morison,  whose  genius  for  organizing  and  directing  a 
great  institution,  even  in  the  minutest  detail,  was  only 
excelled  by  the  strength,  firmness,  individuality,  charac- 
ter, and  integrity  of  his  long  and  faithful  administration. 
His  accounts  of  the  earnings  and  expenditures  of  the 
Institute  were  always  scrupulously  exact.  Over  eight 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  in  annual  appropriations, 
were  disbursed  by  the  first  Provost  in  the  discharge 
of  his  honorable  stewardship.  He  regarded  his  office  as 
an  inviolable  trust.  To  the  immortal  honor  of  Dr.  Mori- 
son  be  it  said,  he  never  swerved  from  his  sovereign 
sense  of  official  duty  nor  yielded  to  the  clamor  of  men. 
He  held  to  his  high  ideals  and  let  the  storms  beat  upon 
him  and  the  floods  rage  around  him.  Like  a  rock  up- 
holding a  beacon -light,  he  stood  firm  and  unshaken. 
There  was  something  of  the  strength  of  the  granite  hills 
in  his  iron  will  and  constitution,  some  survival  perhaps 
of  the  stern  spirit  of  the  old  Scotch  Covenanters  from 
whom  he  sprang,  some  influence  of  heredity  from  that 


PUBLIC   SERVICES.  C7 

hardy  race  which  once  dwelt  on  the  Island  of  Lewis, 
amid  the  storm-beaten  Hebrides. 

If  institutions  are,  as  Emerson  well  said,  the  length- 
ened shadows  of  men,  posterity  may  see  in  the  Peabody 
Institute  the  continued  life-work  of  its  first  Provost,  the 
strong  son  of  New  Hampshire. 

"Monadnock  is  a  mountain  strong, 
Tall  and  good  my  kind  among ; 

Ages  are  thy  days, 

Thou  grand  affirmer  of  the  present  tense, 

And  type  of  permanence  ! 

Still  is  the  haughty  pile  erect 
Of  the  old  building  Intellect." 

The  motto  which  appears  upon  this  memorial  of  Dr. 
Morison  appears  also  in  nearly  all  the  carefully  num- 
bered volumes  of  his  private  library.  "Pretio  Prudentia 
Praestat"  is  the  ancient  and  historic  motto  of  the  Mori- 
son  family.  Prudence  is  indeed  above  price,  as  wisdom 
is  better  than  rubies.  Above  all  material  estimate  was 
the  native  good  sense  which  characterized  the  private 
life  and  public  services  of  Nathaniel  Holmes  Morison. 
Having  served  faithfully  his  generation,  he  was  gathered 
unto  his  fathers,  having  the  testimony  of  a  good  con- 
science ;  in  the  confidence  of  a  certain  faith ;  in  the  com- 
fort of  a  reasonable  religious  and  holy  hope ;  in  favor 
with  his  God,  and  in  perfect  charity  with  the  world. 


III. 


TRIBUTES  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  DR.  N.  H. 
MORISON. 

FROM  THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  PEABODY  INSTITUTE. 

"  PEABODY  INSTITUTE,  BALTIMORE, 
February  12,  1891. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Peabody 
Institute  this  day,  the  president  announced  the  death  of 
Nathaniel  H.  Morison,  late  Provost,  and  the  following 
minute  was  directed  to  be  recorded,  and  a  copy  sent  to 
the  family  of  the  deceased : 

"  When,  in  the  future,  the  history  of  the  Peabody  In- 
stitute shall  come  to  be  written,  no  name  will  be  entitled 
to  greater  "honor  than  that  of  Provost  Morison,  whose 
death  we  now  so  deeply  deplore.  When  Mr.  Peabody's 
benefaction  came  to  us,  there  existed  among  us  no  ex- 
ample of  an  institution  so  varied  in  its  design,  and  so 
broad  in  its  scope,  having  the  obvious  purpose  to  diffuse 
its  benefits  through  the  whole  community,  under  such 
conservative  restraint  as  to  free  it  from  the  danger  of 
popular  abuse.  The  trustees  whom  he  selected  to  carry 
his  purpose  to  success  were  happily  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  the  duty  confided  to  them,  and  they  sought 
and  found  in  Mr.  Morison  the  assistant,  whose  previous 
education  and  personal  dignity  of  character  gave  earnest 
of  his  fitness  for  the  office.  It  was  not  to  be  ex- 


TRIBUTES   TO    HIS   MEMORY.  <!!) 

pected  that  in  any  one  person  would  be  found  the 
highest  excellence  in  all  the  subjects  embraced  in  the 
projected  career  of  the  Institute,  but  it  was  nevertheless 
deemed  necessary  to  find  in  him  the  foundation  of  accu- 
rate and  appreciative  scholarship,  the  wisdom  which 
could  best  direct  the  teachings  of  the  lecture  forum  in  a 
way  not  to  endanger  their  usefulness  by  an  effort  to 
make  them  too  popular,  and  the  aesthetic  sense  which 
recognized  and  valued  the  requirements  of  the  highest 
aims  in  music  and  the  fine  arts.  This  desirable  combina- 
tion of  qualities  the  trustees  found  in  Mr.  Morison,  and 
they  promptly  called  him  to  their  aid  in  the  beginning 
of  their  trust,  the  responsible  labor  of  which  he  con- 
tinued most  satisfactorily  to  perform  to  the  time  of  his 
death. 

"  The  evidence  of  his  ability  and  zeal  is  to  be  found  (1) 
in  the  library  which  he  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  form- 
ing, which  for  its  extent  is  admitted  to  be  second  to  none  ; 
(2)  in  the  instructive  lectures  which  have  been  yearly 
provided  for  the  education  of  the  people;  (3)  in  the 
steady  maintenance  of  a  Conservatory  of  Music,  the  amis 
of  which  are  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  the  most 
scientific  teaching,  and  the  exhibition  of  the  best  illus- 
trated examples  of  the  art ;  and  (4)  a  Gallery  of  Art,  as 
yet  only  in  its  beginning.  In  all  these  departments,  con- 
ducted with  the  cooperation  and  advice  of  competent 
committees  of  the  Board,  Mr.  Morison  exercised  the  most 
potential  voice,  under  the  admitted  belief  that  his  judg- 
ment was  without  fault.  In  contemplating  a  character 
in  its  business  relations  so  worthy  of  all  praise,  it  is 
happy  that  we  can  recognize  as  blended  with  it  the  moral 
and  social  qualities  which  adorn  the  gentleman.  He  was 


70  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

amiable,  just  and  dignified  in  his  relations  with  all 
others,  and  especially  warm-hearted  and  generous  to 
those  who  had  the  privilege  of  his  friendship.  With 
feelings  of  deep  sorrow  we  record  this  memorial  of  our 

loss. 

By  order  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 

FARIS  C.  PITT,  Secretary." 

FROM  MR.  REVERDY  JOHNSON. 

"As  head  of  several  committees  of  the  Peabody  In- 
stitute, I  was  for  many  years  intimately  associated  with 
Mr.  Morison.  From  such  relations  with  him  I  was  in 
a  position  to  judge  the  great  service  he  rendered  the  In- 
stitute in  its  various  departments.  He  came  to  it  in  its 
earliest  days,  when  everything  and  every  department 
was  new  and  untried.  It  required  great  judgment  to 
guide  the  early  steps,  for  they  were  sure  to  shape  and 
control  the  whole  working  of  Mr.  Peabody's  noble  gift. 
I  have  never  known  an  executive  more  careful  or  more 
alive  to  the  interests  of  his  charge.  His  whole  mind  was 
centered  in  his  work,  and  no  sacrifice  of  time  or  health 
was  deemed  too  great  when  necessary  to  attain  an  end. 
In  those  early  formative  days,  as  through  his  official 
life,  the  Provost  was  always  equal  to  the  demands  upon 
him.  Though  anxious  at  all  times  to  consult  his  associ- 
ates in  everything,  he  generally  had  matured  plans  to 
recommend,  and  they  had,  as  a  rule,  controlling  weight 
with  the  Board. 

"In  one  department,  that  of  the  Library,  his  interest 
was  especially  centered.  From  his  prior  course  of  life, 
books  and  literature  were  the  natural  bent  of  his  mind. 
At  the  time  the  Institute  opened  its  doors  there  was  no 


TRIBUTES   TO    HIS    MEMORY.  71 

large  collection  of  books  in  our  city,  and  the  task  was  to 
gather  such  a  body  of  valuable  material  as  would  pro- 
mote students  and  advanced  readers  in  all  branches  of 
useful  education.  This  was  the  express  purpose  of  the 
library  as  laid  down  by  the  founder  in  his  directions  to 
the  trustees.  A  general  collection  of  light  literature  and 
current  reading,  almost  any  one  familiar  with  books 
could  have  easily  brought  together ;  but  to  carry  out 
Mr.  Peabody's  views  called  for  great  judgment,  study 
and  a  well-directed  discretion.  The  result  has  been  a 
collection  of  such  a  treasury  of  advanced  literature  as 
may  well  claim  to  be  of  unique  value  to  this  whole  sec- 
tion of  country.  It  has  been  the  seed  of  extended  and  ex- 
tending educational  work  all  around  us.  Out  of  it  have 
sprung  the  Pratt  and  New  Mercantile  Libraries  of  our 
city,  and  its  presence  here  was  largely  considered  in  the 
formative  days  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University.  With 
unflagging  patience  and  industry  Mr.  Morison  labored 
at  the  periodical  buying  lists  submitted  to  the  Board, 
marked  out  the  shelving  and  storing  capacity  of  the 
library,  and  contrived  the  rapid  and  ingenious  plan  of 
rapid  access  to  the  books  required. 

"  The  catalogue,  too,  will  always  mark  his  especial 
merit  in  the  position  he  so  long  and  ably  filled.  A  work 
that  has  won  the  encomiums  of  all  librarians  of  the 
country,  as  to  its  plan  and  thoroughness,  was  principally 
his.  To  it  he  devoted  the  entire  earnestness  of  his  char- 
acter. A  work  that  has  taken  over  twelve  years  to 
finish  was  day  and  night  upon  his  mind.  Its  first 
conception  was  in  his  days  of  health  and  vigor.  Its 
completion  had  left  him  worn  out  with  years  and  toil.  I 
was  for  nearly  the  whole  time  one  of  the  Library  Com- 


72  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL    HOLMES   MORISON. 

mittee,  and  therefore  familiar  with  the  catalogue  work. 
I  cannot  say  that  it  started  with  a  clearly  defined  plan, 
to  be  pursued  to  the  end,  but  it  grew  as  it  went,  as  all 
such  undertakings  must  do.  During  a  period  of  so  many 
years,  suggestions  and  modifications  would  naturally 
present  themselves ;  but  in  all  this  Mr.  Morison  was  the 
guide  and  responsible  head  of  the  undertaking.  It  was 
his  pride,  and  he  considered  it  the  work  of  his  life  by 
which  he  wished  to  be  known  to  those  who  should  come 
after  him." 

To  MRS.  MORISON  FROM  THE  PEABODY  STAFF. 

"  PEABODY  INSTITUTE,  BALTIMORE,  Nov.  19,  1890. 
Dear  Madam  : 

We,  the  professors,  officers  and  others  employed  in 
the  Peabody  Institute  desire  to  express  to  you  our  deep 
grief  on  account  of  the  great  bereavement  which  has 
come  alike  upon  us  and  upon  you.  We  feel,  that  in  the 
death  of  Dr.  Nathaniel  H.  Morison,  the  Peabody  Institute 
has  lost  a  most  efficient  and  valuable  officer,  the  com- 
munity an  able  and  esteemed  citizen,  and  the  faculty 
and  employees  of  the  Institute  a  wise,  consistent,  con- 
servative, executive  head,  as  well  as  a  kind,  considerate, 
firm  but  gentle  friend.  We  desire  to  present  the  assur- 
ance of  our  profound  sorrow  and  the  deep  sympathy  we 
all  feel  for  you  and  your  family  in  this  our  great  and 
irreparable  loss. 

ASGER  HAMERIK,  P.  R.  UHLER, 

B.  COURLAENDER,         ANDREW  TROEGER, 

HENRY  A.  ALLEN,  JOHN  PARKER, 

FRITZ  FINCKE,  SAMUEL  HILL,  JR., 


TRIBUTES   TO    HIS    MEMORY.  l',\ 

R.  BURMEISTER,  F.  D.  CRUDEN, 

HAROLD  RANDOLPH,  W.  R.  ATKINSON, 

ADAM  ITZEL,  JR.,  •  ALBERT  C.  CRAWFORD, 

ANNIE  MAY  KEITH,  SAMUEL  E.  LAFFERTY, 

SUSAN  MULLIN, 

VIRGINIA  M.  CARTER, 

WILLARDG.  DAY." 

FROM  THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  PRATT  LIBRARY.* 

Almost  prophetic  of  the  foundation  of  a  free  circulating 
library  for  the  City  of  Baltimore  is  the  following  extract 
from  Dr.  Morison's  annual  report  of  1875  :  "  The  day 
cannot  be  far  distant  when  the  city  will  find  it  necessary 
to  establish  a  free  circulating  library  for  its  people ;  and, 
when  that  time  comes,  it  will  be  found  that  such  a 
library  can  be  established  and  maintained  for  a  much 
smaller  sum  than  has  been  spent  for  this  purpose  by 
other  cities  in  the  country,  because  the  Peabody  Library 
already  supplies  the  rarest  and  most  expensive  class  of 
books  required  by  students — books  which  need  not  be 
duplicated  in  another  free  library  of  the  same  city." 

Next  to  his  public  services  in  organizing  and  directing 
the  Peabody  Institute  are  Dr.  Morison's  labors  on  behalf 
of  the  Pratt  Library,  founded  in  1882.  Few  persons  in 
the  City  of  Baltimore  are  aware  that  the  actual  plans  of 
this  noble  building  were  largely  shaped  by  the  Provost 
of  the  Peabody  Institute.  Intimately  associated  with 
Mr.  Enoch  Pratt,  who  is  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Insti- 

*An  account  of  the  Pratt  Library,  by  the  writer  of  this  sketch, 
appeared  in  The  Nation,  February  9,  1882.  It  is  reprinted,  with  Mr. 
Pratt's  letter,  in  the  University  Circulars,  March,  1882. 


74  MEMORIAL   OF   NATHANIEL   HOLMES   MORISON. 

tute,  Dr.  Morison  was  naturally  consulted  by  the  founder 
of  the  new  library,  which  is  a  unique  municipal  institu- 
tion, established  upon  an  individual  foundation,  with  a 
self-perpetuating  Board  of  Trustees,  originally  selected 
by  Mr.  Pratt  himself.  Over  his  own  name,  as  President 
of  the  Board,  appears  the  following  record  of  the  action 
of  the  Trustees  of  the  Pratt  Library,  concerning  the 
valuable  services  of  their  late  colleague  : 

"  In  recording  the  death  of  Dr.  Nathaniel  H.  Morison, 
his  colleagues  of  the  Board  express  their  sense  of  his 
great  services  in  perfecting  the  organization  and  pro- 
moting the  usefulness  and  success  of  the  library. 

"  Peculiarly  fitted  by  natural  gifts  and  special  training 
through  long  experience  in  the  equipment  and  adminis- 
tration of  other  great  libraries,  to  be  one  of  the  original 
Trustees,  his  earnest  and  effective  cooperation  in  the 
work  to  which  he  was  called,  and  the  unstinted  and 
unvarying  devotion  with  which  he  labored  to  advance 
the  great  ends  of  the  foundation,  contributed  in  an 
eminent  degree  to  the  unexampled  results  which  have 
been  attained. 

"The  Founder  of  the  Library  here  places  on  record 
his  appreciation  of  the  value  of  Dr.  Morison's  wise  and 
helpful  counsel  in  determining  the  plans  of  the  Library 
Building  and  the  details  of  its  establishment  and  prac- 
tical working. 

"  Individually  the  members  of  the  Board  each  and  all 
profoundly  feel  the  loss  of  one  whose  elevated  character 
and  enlightened  aims  were  attested  by  a  long  life  of  the 
highest  usefulness  and  by  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
all  those  so  fortunate  as  to  know  him. 

ENOCH  PRATT,  President. 
BALTIMOBE,  December  8,  1890." 


TRIBUTES   TO   HIS  MEMORY.  75 

FROM  PRESIDENT  D.  C.  GILMAN. 

In  the  fifteenth  annual  report  of  the  President  of  the 
Johns  Hopkins  University  there  is  an  appreciative  obitu- 
ary notice  of  Judge  George  William  Brown,  brother-in- 
law  of  Dr.  Morison  and  a  trustee  of  the  University  as 
well  as  of  the  Peabody  Institute,  who  died  September  5, 
1890,  and  also  an  appreciative  mention  of  "another  friend 
of  the  University,  not  indeed  officially  connected  with 
it,  but  always  interested  in  its  proceedings.  I  refer  to 
Nathaniel  H.  Morison,  LL.  D.,  Provost  of  the  Peabody 
Institute,  to  whom  all  the  scholars  now  assembled  in 
Baltimore,  and  all  who  have  been  here  for  many  years 
past,  are  deeply  indebted.  To  him  is  chiefly  due  the 
honor  of  building  up  a  library  of  costly,  scholarly  books, 
which  ranks  among  the  noblest  libraries  of  the  country. 
It  is  a  collection  wisely  chosen,  carefully  catalogued, 
well  arranged,  and  constantly  accessible.  Dr.  Morison 
has  many  other  claims  to  grateful  and  honorable  re- 
membrance, but  to  us,  the  members  of  a  University, 
his  greatest  service  has  been  the  collection  of  that  great 
library  on  a  plan  so  definite  and  so  thoroughly  carried 
out  that  it  is  supplemented  by  and  is  supplementary  to 
all  the  other  libraries  of  Baltimore.  There  are  but  few 
cities,  if  any,  in  this  country,  and  not  many  in  Europe, 
where  books  of  the  highest  character,  as  well  as  books 
of  popular  interest,  are  so  readily  accessible  to  all  classes 
in  the  community,  as  they  are  in  this  place.  The  variety 
and  excellence  of  our  library  system  is  largely  due  to 
the  distinctive  character  that  the  Peabody  Library  has 
always  maintained." 


70         MEMORIAL  OF  NATHANIEL  HOLMES  MORISON. 

FROM  THE  "BALTIMORE  AMERICAN." 

"  In  the  death  of  Dr.  Morison  it  may  be  truly  said  that 
a  great  man  has  fallen  among  us.  Tall  and  manly, 
of  commanding  presence  and  dignified  bearing,  his  ven- 
erable form  will  long  hold  its  place  in  the  memories  of 
the  people  of  Baltimore  when  the  places  that  knew  him 
shall  know  him  no  more.  A  man  of  the  most  absolute 
integrity,  it  was  difficult  for  him  to  conceive  of  any 
mode  of  human  life  except  that  of  the  strictest  devotion 
to  duty.  Health  and  life,  in  his  view,  might  be  left  to 
take  care  of  themselves,  but  duty  must  be  done  at  all 
hazards.  His  views  on  all  subjects,  although  large  and 
liberal,  were  economic  and  conservative.  He  could  plan 
for  the  needs  of  coming  generations  in  his  work,  while 
carefully  and  scrupulously  scrutinizing  all  the  details  of 
affairs  in  the  present.  He  deliberated  long  over  all  new 
projects,  but  seldom  made  a  mistake  in  his  conclusion. 
Once  determined,  he  was  never  swayed  from  his  purpose 
by  the  persuasion  of  friends  or  by  the  opposition  of 
enemies.  One  of  his  principal  anxieties  was  to  live  until 
he  had  finished  the  great  catalogue  which  he  began  ten 
years  ago  for  the  Peabody  Library.  This  he  considered 
would  be  his  most  enduring  monument.  He  lived,  if  not 
to  finish  the  work,  at  least  long  enough  to  see  that  it 
would  soon  be  completed,  even  without  his  own  final 
supervision. 

"At  the  beginning  of  the  present  season  he  was  quite 
doubtful  whether  he  would  live  to  see  the  end  of  it,  but 
he  spoke  of  the  probabilities  very  cheerfully  and  without 
the  slightest  personal  apprehension.  'I  may  die  any 
day,'  he  remarked  lately,  '  but  I  am  glad  everything  in 
the  Institute  is  in  such  shape  that  it  will  go  on  in  exactly 


TRIBUTES   TO   HIS   MEMORY.  77 

the  same  way  without  me.'  When  advised  to  take  a 
winter  vacation  to  prolong  his  life,  he  said :  '  No,  my 
duty  is  here,  and  when  death  comes  he  shall  find  me  in 
the  harness.' 

"Although  a  man  of  stern  manners,  his  severity  was 
always  accompanied  with  the  utmost  kindness  of  heart. 
One  of  his  greatest  desires  was  to  save  trouble  to  those 
around  him.  He  never  asked  even  a  servant  to  do  a 
thing  that  he  could  as  well  do  for  himself.  He  had  the 
most  profound  respect  for  manhood  even  in  the  lowest, 
and  he  would  have  taken  as  great  pains  to  do  a  kind 
action  to  a  slave  as  to  a  prince.  His  friendship  was  not 
easily  gained ;  but  being  formed,  it  was  solid  as  the 
granite  quarries  in  his  native  hills.  However  the  world 
might  frown  on  his  friend,  if  he  deemed  him  worthy,  his 
heart  and  hand  were  open  to  him ;  but  if  he  deemed  a 
man  unworthy,  he  would  withdraw  his  endorsement  at 
the  peril  of  any  personal  sacrifice  whatever 

"  Dr.  Morison's  stately  and  erect  figure  was  a  familiar 
one  to  Baltimoreans.  He  was  quite  tall,  and  of  late 
years  his  head  has  been  crowned  with  silvery  hair.  He 
had  a  pleasant  face,  and  his  voice  as  well  as  his  manner 
was  as  mild  and  sympathetic  as  a  woman's.  He  was 
greatly  esteemed  and  beloved  by  many  friends  and 
acquaintances.  He  was  a  dignified,  but  at  the  same 
time  a  polite  and  agreeable  gentleman." 

FROM  "THE  BOSTON  POST." 

"  In  announcing  the  death  at  Baltimore  of  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Holmes  Morison,  Provost  of  the  Peabody  Institute  of 
that  city,  The  Post  mentioned  some  of  the  chief  facts  in 


78  MEMORIAL  OF  NATHANIEL   HOLMES  MORISON. 

his  career,  but  his  connection  with  Massachusetts, 
especially  with  Cambridge,  as  well  as  the  nobility  of  his 
character  and  the  high  value  of  his  work,  would  amply 
justify  a  more  extended  notice.  Mr.  Morison  was  present 
at  the  Harvard  Class  Day  exercises  when  his  youngest 
son  was  graduated,  and  he  then  looked  well  and  vigor- 
ous, his  tall  form  being  perfectly  erect,  and  his  white 
hair  crowning  a  venerable  but  still  animated  face.  He 
spent  last  summer,  as  usual,  in  Peterboro,  N.  H.,  where 
he  was  born,  but  the  greater  part  of  his  life  was  passed 
in  Baltimore.  Mr.  Morison  had  the  sturdiness  of  charac- 
ter and  the  industrious  habits  of  a  New  Englander,  but 
his  courtly  and  dignified  manners  were  suggestive  rather 
of  a  Southern  than  of  a  Northern  origin.  The  great 
work  of  his  life  was  the  creation  of  the  library  connected 
with  the  Peabody  Institute  at  Baltimore,  of  which  he 
had  entire  charge.  This  library  is  of  a  character  unique, 
we  believe,  in  the  United  States,  being  solely  a  reference 
library;  intended  not  for  the  general  public,  but  for  stu- 
dents of  literature,  science,  and  the  arts.  The  sum  of 
money  at  his  disposal  for  this  purpose  was  comparatively 
small,  but  Mr.  Morison  made  such  good  Use  of  it,  relying 
mainly  upon  his  own  judgment,  but  sedulously  availing 
himself  of  such  advice  and  assistance  as  could  be  ob- 
tained from  scholars  and  authors,  that  he  built  up  a 
wonderful  collection  of  books.  Students  in  special  sub- 
jects have  frequently  expressed  their  surprise  at  the 
richness  and  thoroughness  of  the  library.  Next  in  im- 
portance to  this  undertaking  was  the  series  of  lectures 
delivered  at  the  Peabody  Institute  under  Mr.  Morison's 
charge.  "A  list  of  those  who  have  delivered  lectures 
there,"  the  Baltimore  Sun  remarks,  "  would  include  a 


TRIBUTES   TO   HIS   MEMORY.  7!> 

large  proportion  of  the  most  eminent  names  in  this 
country,  and  many  from  abroad  in  literature,  science, 
and  art."  Mr.  Morison's  last  appearance  at  the  Insti- 
tute was  on  November  4,  when,  although  suffering  from 
the  illness  which  proved  fatal,  he,  as  usual,  introduced 
the  lecturer  to  the  audience  and  took  his  seat  on  the 
platform. 

"Mr.  Morison  leaves  a  widow,  one  daughter  and  five 
sons,  three  of  the  latter  being  well  known  citizens  of 
Boston.  His  death,  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-four, 
occurring  without  the  intervention  of  a  protracted  or 
painful  illness,  fitly  closes  a  long,  useful,  conscientious 
and  happy  life." 


IV. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  DR.  N.  H.  MORISON'S 
WRITINGS. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Provost  to  the  Trustees  of  the 
Peabody  Institute,  First  to  the  Twenty-third,  inclusive. 
Baltimore,  1868-90. 

George  Washington  Burnap.  Boston,  1883.  (Reprinted 
from  the  New  England  Historic-Genealogical  Society 
Memorial  Biographies,  v.  3.) 

Management  and  Objects  of  the  Peabody  Institute  of 
the  City  of  Baltimore.  Baltimore,  1871.  8°.  (Peabody 
Institute  Documents,  1857-79.) 

A  School  Manual;  prepared  for  the  use  of  his  pupils. 
Second  revised  edition.  Baltimore,  1867.  12°. 

Peabody  Institute.  Catalogue  of  Casts  and  other 
objects  of  Art  contained  in  its  Gallery  of  Art.  Balti- 
more, 1881.  12°.  Second  revised  edition,  1883.  Third 
edition,  1888. 

Sesqui-Centennial  Poem.     Peterborough,  1889. 

Catalogue  of  the  Library  of  the  Peabody  Institute. 
5  vols.  Baltimore,  1883-90. 


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